Happy February! I know it’s been a while since my last post but life got a little busy with some family issues. The 2 caregivers of my parents in Peru decided to leave and they gave my brother and I a super short notice. This is hard because Peru is suffering a bad Covid second wave and finding people to work as caregivers is very hard right now. I had no idea that they were planning to quit but I guess the stress of being inside the house for so long was mentally tired for them so I kind of understand why they want to leave.
Thankfully, my best friend in Peru recommended a lady who worked with her grandparents for many years so now we have a new lady working with my parents and it seems is going well specially with mom because of her dementia. On the other hand, we haven’t found a new nurse for dad yet so hopefully we can find someone soon.
This situation is very frustrating and mentally exhausting for me: being far plus I can’t travel because of the virus (haven’t seen my parents in a year, the longest ever!!) makes me feel a bit down without energy to do other things. During the last week I had to call A LOT on video to talk to the new lady and explain things that my mom can’t anymore, so I had to get up super early (time is different) and etc. etc. . Peru is under a strict quarantine again so my brother can’t leave his house to see my parents either. My brother installed a new security camera in their house so we both can watch and hear what is going on, which is good specially that now we have new people working with them. So yeah… it’s been a couple of weird weeks.
BUT really there is not much else I can do right now (I think I am doing way more than a regular person can do lol) and my brother down there is trying to find a new nurse, so hopefully all works out ok and things go back to normal again.
Anyway, because some things are being taken care of and I have some peace of mind I decided to go back to my regular baking so here is a NEW recipe that you can make for Valentine’s Day. You know I LOVE flan and that is why I created a new version for “chocoflan”. This impossible cake has a layer or red velvet cake, a flan layer and caramel. It’s so so delicious, perfect to share with the people you love.
Let’s start with the recipe. If you want to watch how I made this dessert, visit my Instagram account here.
Yield 1 Bundt cake pan
Ingredients
Ingredients
For the caramel
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
For the flan
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
4 large eggs
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the red velvet cake layer
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg at room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
Directions
For the caramel
1.- Grease your bundt pan. I used butter and I covered the bottom and sides with butter very well.
2.- In a saucepan mix water and sugar over low heat. When the sugar is all dissolved (no sugar granules left) , turn up the heat to medium-high and let the mix of sugar/water turn into the caramel, this will take about 15-20 minutes, do not mix , just keep an eye that it doesn’t burn because it will taste bitter.
3.- After a couple of minutes it will start to boil, bubbling a lot, please do not touch or stir. Just let cook and you will see that little by little the color of the mixture will start to change, to a light caramel color and then to a medium dark caramel color. Turn off the heat. Protect your hands with an oven mitt or a kitchen towel and pour into your bundt cake pan, covering all the inner surface with the caramel. Be very careful with your fingers, and don’t even dream of tasting it with your tongue. Hot caramel is dangerous. Let it cool, it will get hard.
For the flan
Preheat oven to 350 F.
1.- In a bowl mix condensed milk, evaporated milk, eggs and vanilla. Pour mixture into the cake pan on the top of the caramel.
2.- Place the flan cake pan inside a larger pan with about 2 fingers of hot water.
3.- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the flan is kind of set. We don’t need to have a fully cooked flan or liquid flan. It has to be semi-set.
4.-While the flan is baking, make the chocolate cake.
For the red velvet cake layer
1.- In a small bowl mix: flour, sugar, salt and cocoa powder. Set aside.
2.- In a bowl and using a mixer, mix: egg, oil, buttermilk for about a minute. Then, add red food coloring and vanilla extract. Mix well in medium speed for another minute.
3.- Add in dry ingredients and mix in low speed until you don’t see any leftover flour.
4.- In a small bowl mix baking soda and vinegar. It will bubble, add this mixture to you cake batter. Mix in low speed for 30 seconds.
5.- When your flan is semi-baked, take the pan out of the oven and very carefully spread the red velvet cake batter on top. I use a spoon and very gently I spread it on top of the flan. Put it back into the oven and finish baking for another 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
4.- Let it cool completely at room temperature. Then, place it into the fridge to chill for a couple of hours.
5.- After a couple of hours, run a knife around the border and turn the cake over a bigger plate. If that doesn’t help, put the pan over some hot water for a couple of minutes, then try to turn the flan over again. Have patience, sometimes, it takes a little bit of time.
Enjoy!
If you make this dessert, send me a picture!
Keep this dessert in the fridge until ready to serve.