I love both chocolate cake and flan so when I saw this recipe for Dulce de Leche Chocoflan, I jumped right in. Esteban Castillo introduces this recipe in his cookbook Chicano Eats: Recipes from my Mexican-American Kitchen. It combines a bottom layer of fudgy chocolate cake topped with a layer of dulce de leche flan. During the baking process, the real magic happens: “The chocolate cake trades places with the flan and floats to the top, and the flan sinks to the bottom.”
I even bought a special Nordic Bundt cake pan to showcase this recipe! Since this recipe calls for dulce de leche (an ingredient new to me), I went to my local Mexican supermarket but they didn’t have any. Problem solved: I read on the internet that I could easily make my own dulce de leche by baking some sweetened condensed milk in the oven for 90 minutes at 425 F and it will turn into a lovely brown caramel sauce.
To make this recipe, you first lightly grease the bottom on your Bundt pan with butter, followed by a dusting of cocoa powder.
The rich chocolate cake batter is spread on the bottom of the pan, then the custard flan is added on top. The cake then bakes in a bain marie for about 90 minutes at 350 F, then chilled in the fridge. I was a little apprehensive about releasing the cake and inverting it onto a serving plate. After resting the bottom of the Bundt pan in warm water for a few minutes and then carefully nudging the cake out with a knife, the Chocoflan came out perfectly.
As Esteban says in his cookbook, “Chocoflan is one of my favorite desserts to make for a birthday party or a get-together because it takes no time and you get to have two desserts on one.” In our household, we haven’t had any social get-togethers for a long time due to Covid, but we certainly have enjoyed this Chocoflan!
By the way, special thanks to Lisa from Lisa is Cooking blog for her recommendation for Esteban Castillo’s cookbook.
Dulce de Leche Chocoflan
Print RecipeIngredients
- For the Chocolate Cake:
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 6 Tbsps. unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup brewed coffee
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- For the Flan:
- 1 14 oz. can dulce de leche
- 12 oz. evaporated milk
- 4 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
- 5 large eggs
- For serving (optional)
- Dulce de leche
- Chopped nuts
- Whipped cream
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
To make the chocolate cake, place the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the softened butter and mix on the lowest speed until the mixture resembles wet sand.
In a liquid measuring cup, combine the coffee, buttermilk, egg, and vanilla extract. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the flour/butter mixture with the mixer running on low. Scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically and mix for a total of two minutes.
Coat a 10-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray or butter. Dust the inside of the pan with cocoa powder and shake off any excess. Add the cake butter, smoothing out the top with a spatula or spoon. Ladle the flan mixture on top, being careful to disturb the cake batter as little as possible. Transfer the Bundt pan to a large roasting pan or casserole dish. Pour enough water into the roasting pan to come 2-3 inches up the sides of the Bundt pan. Cover the top of the Bundt pan with foil and bake for 1 ½ hours until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove cake from oven chill in the fridge for several hours. Gently run a knife around the edges to release the cake from the pan. If necessary, set the bottom of the Bundt pan in a shallow bowl of hot water to help release the cake from the pan. If desired, serve the cake with Dulce de Leche, chopped nuts, or whipped cream.
13 Comments
John / Kitchen Riffs
February 28, 2021 at 9:58 amWow, this is gorgeous! Really like the shape of that Nordic bundt pan — so cool. Really nifty recipe, too — this looks delish. Thanks!
angiesrecipes
February 28, 2021 at 2:09 pmThis is absolutely stunning! It does require lots of work, but is worth all of efforts, Fran.
Cake batter first, then flan? I thought it was flan first, then chocolate cake because the flan appears atop after turning out. Or am I missing something here?
Fran Flint
February 28, 2021 at 2:31 pmThat’s right Angie. The chocolate cake goes on the bottom first of the bundt pan, then the flan on top. When the cake bakes, the two components switch places (flan goes to bottom). But when you turn out the cake onto a serving platter, the flan then appears on top!
Chef Mimi
March 1, 2021 at 1:04 amwow that looks good. I’ll never make it but it looks really good! I just prefer to stick with savory.
angiesrecipes
March 3, 2021 at 12:28 amAwesome! Thanks, Fran.
lisaiscooking
March 1, 2021 at 2:28 amThis looks delicious! I can’t wait to try making one. I haven’t gotten to it yet. And, I love that pan. I just recently bought the same one. Thanks so much for the mention!
Raymund
March 3, 2021 at 11:46 amThey sure look pretty and I bet they are delicious! Custardy chocolate what can go wrong with that combo. Love it
Jean | Delightful Repast
March 5, 2021 at 4:36 amFran, this is a stunner! And it makes me happy to see that I am not the only one who will buy a new pan for a special purpose! Had never heard of chocoflan, so I’m glad I popped in today.
Fran Flint
March 5, 2021 at 2:35 pmJean, thanks so much for stopping by. I haven’t heard from you in awhile!
David Scott Allen
March 7, 2021 at 2:45 amI’m not just saying this… I have been wanting a good recipe for Choco flan for a long time! Yours with the Dulce de Leche it is exactly what I needed. I’m surprised you were able to find it in your Mexican market. If you ever want to go one step further, look for cajeta. It’s sort of the same but made with goats milk. Thanks for this recipe… I have the similar shaped Bundt pan but it’s much smaller… I might have to invest in a larger one before lawn.
David Scott Allen
March 7, 2021 at 2:46 amP.S. I forgot to mention that most of the Choco flan recipes I’ve come across have called for pudding mixes. That’s one of the reasons I’ve never made them…
Fran Flint
March 8, 2021 at 10:18 amThanks David. My Bundt pan is a smaller one too- holds 6 cups, which is the right size for me and my husband. I thought if I used the larger Nordic pan, we wold have to throw away some of the cake!
mae
March 11, 2021 at 6:22 amThat looks delicious! I just read another blogger who tried to make her own dulce de leche — she opened the condensed milk can too soon and it sprayed her hair.
be safe… mae at maefood.blogspot.com