Learn to make chocoflan at home! This delicious Mexican dessert features a layer of creamy flan on top of rich chocolate cake. It’s perfect for special occasions or family gatherings and is surprisingly easy to make! Top it with a rich and delicious cajeta caramel sauce for the ultimate sweet treat.
Want more dessert recipes? Try my tres leches cake, Mexican brownies, and fresas con crema.
I have been trying to perfect my chocoflan for years, but I could never quite get it right. But since it’s a dessert I love, I kept trying until I finally nailed it after numerous attempts! Here’s why I was willing to push through and develop this recipe that had always been challenging for me:
- You get two desserts in one! Chocoflan combines the rich flavor of chocolate cake with the smooth texture of flan, satisfying different dessert cravings at the same time.
- It has the best texture combination. The creamy and smooth vanilla flan is the perfect complement to the dense chocolate cake both in taste and texture.
- This cake is a fantastic party trick! The cake batter and flan are added to the bundt pan in layers. During the baking process, the layers invert, which adds the element of “magic” and is so fun!
What Is Chocoflan?
Also known as the “Impossible” or “Magic” cake, chocoflan is a Mexican layered dessert in which you bake layers of chocolate cake and flan together. During the baking process, the two layers actually swap positions with one another in the oven (hence the nicknames)!
The chocolate cake is dense and fudgy, complemented by the light and creamy flan de queso. The whole thing is topped with a cajeta drizzle and some sliced almonds.
Combining these ingredients gives it the holy trinity of Mexican dessert flavors—chocolate, vanilla, and caramel.
Chocoflan Ingredients
- The chocolate cake: You’ll need all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, baking soda, an egg, whole milk, butter, distilled white vinegar, and a few other ingredients. These ingredients create a dense chocolate batter that works well in a bundt cake pan, resulting in a lighter cake than flan. This is why the two layers flip-flop during cooking. The cake batter is much lighter than the flan mixture, so the flan sinks, and the cake rises as everything bakes!
- The cream cheese flan: You’ll need evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese, eggs, and vanilla extract. The cream cheese gives the flan a silky smooth texture and rich consistency. It’s very similar to my flan de queso!
- The topping: Chocoflan is topped with a delicious cajeta caramel sauce. Cajeta is a thick and gooey caramel-like sauce made from goat’s milk. It’s a bit richer and more complex than standard caramel. You can use store-bought or make your own cajeta if you like!
How to Make Chocoflan
Grease a bundt pan with butter, then coat the bottom with ½ cup cajeta.
Make the cake batter by whisking together the sugar and butter in a large bowl until creamed. In a separate bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix the two together, then add in the milk and eggs. Mix the batter just until smooth, then mix in the vinegar.
Make the flan by blending the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese, eggs, and vanilla extract in a large blender for about 30 seconds until fully combined.
Pour the cake batter into the bundt pan and spread evenly, then slowly and gently pour the flan mixture on top. It’s okay if they combine a bit. They will invert during baking anyway!
Cover the bundt pan with foil and add about 1 inch of hot water to the roasting pan to create a water bath or bain marie. The water does not need to be boiling, but just get it as hot as you can from the tap.
Bake for 1 hour and 25-40 minutes until the surface of the cake is firm to the touch or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove it from the water bath and let it cool completely to room temperature for about 1 hour or so.
To serve, slide a knife along the edges of the cake pan to unstick any edges, then place a large plate or cake stand over the bundt pan. Grasp both of them tightly, give it a little jiggle, then flip it over. The chocoflan should slide right out. Scrape any remaining cajeta onto the cake, garnish with sliced almonds or chopped pecans, and serve!
Recipe Tips
- If you’re in a hurry, you can use Devil’s Food cake mix instead of making the cake from scratch.
- Instead of cajeta, you can use dulce de leche and achieve the same result. The primary difference is that cajeta is made with goat’s milk, and dulce de leche is made with cow’s milk. While each has a distinct flavor, both work great with this cake!
- Don’t overbake. Be sure to check for doneness towards the end of the baking time. The cake should feel firm to the touch, while the flan should be set. Overbaking may lead to dry cake and tough flan.
Bundt Pan for Chocoflan
Chocoflan is traditionally baked in a 12-cup bundt pan. You can make it in a different cake pan, but you’ll need to make sure it can hold 12 cups. Bake time will also vary.
Storage
Chocoflan can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
More Mexican Recipes
Chocoflan
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, divided
- ½ cup cajeta (or dulce de leche)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 4 large eggs, room temperature, divided
- 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
- 12 ounces evaporated milk
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Hot water, as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Generously grease the inside of a bundt pan with 1 tablespoon of softened butter. Pour the cajeta in to coat the bottom and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment or in a large bowl using an electric hand mixer, beat together the sugar and remaining 4 tablespoons of softened butter until creamed.
- In a separate medium bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar and mix until combined.
- Add the milk, 1 egg, and vinegar. Mix for another 40-60 seconds until completely smooth.
- In a large blender, add the evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese, the remaining 3 eggs, and vanilla extract. Blend on high for 30 seconds.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan and spread it evenly. Then, slowly and gently pour the blended flan mixture over the cake batter. It’s okay if the cake batter and flan mixture combine a bit. They will invert during baking anyway!
- Cover the bundt pan with foil and place it in a large roasting pan. Pour 4-6 cups of hot water into the roasting pan or until it covers about 1 inch of the cake pan.
- Carefully place the roasting pan in the center rack of the oven and bake for 1 hour and 25 to 1 hour and 40 minutes or until the surface of the cake is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
- Remove the pan from the water bath and let it cool completely to room temperature, about 1 hour.
- Slide a knife along the edges of the cake pan to unstick any pieces, then place a large plate or cake stand over the bundt pan. Grasp both of them tightly, give it a little jiggle, then flip it over. The chocoflan should slide right out.
- Remove the pan and scrape any remaining cajeta from the pan onto the cake. Garnish with sliced almonds or chopped pecans and serve.
Notes
- If you’re in a hurry, you can use Devil’s Food cake mix instead of making the cake from scratch.
- Don’t overbake. Be sure to check for doneness towards the end of the baking time. The cake should feel firm to the touch, while the flan should be set. Overbaking may lead to dry cake and tough flan.
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