Description
Magic Melt Chocoflan is a decadent layered dessert combining rich chocolate cake and creamy flan with a luscious caramel topping. This Mexican-inspired recipe features a moist cocoa-infused cake layer topped by a silky smooth cream cheese flan, baked together in a water bath for perfect texture and flavor contrast. Ideal for special occasions or indulgent treats, this chocoflan dazzles with its unique twist of flavors and melt-in-your-mouth consistency.
Ingredients
Flan Ingredients
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 12 ounces evaporated milk
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 3 large eggs
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract (Mexican if possible)
Cake Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1¼ cups buttermilk
Other
- 2 tablespoons softened butter (for greasing)
- ¼ cup cajeta (caramel sauce)
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare pan: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease the baking pan thoroughly with softened butter and evenly pour in the cajeta caramel sauce to create the bottom layer.
- Make flan batter: In a blender or mixing bowl, combine sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, softened cream cheese, eggs, and vanilla extract. Blend or whisk until the mixture is completely smooth. Set aside this flan batter.
- Cream butter and sugar: In a separate large bowl, beat together the softened butter and granulated sugar until the mixture is fluffy and light in color, ensuring good aeration.
- Incorporate egg: Add the large egg to the butter and sugar mixture and continue beating until fully incorporated.
- Sift dry ingredients: In another bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, ground cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda to ensure a uniform dry mix free of lumps.
- Combine wet and dry mixtures: Alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk to the butter mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, mixing gently after each addition until just combined without overmixing.
- Layer cake batter: Pour the prepared chocolate cake batter over the cajeta layer evenly in the greased pan.
- Add flan layer: Carefully pour the flan mixture over the cake batter. During baking, the flan will sink to the bottom, creating the signature two-layer effect.
- Set up water bath and bake: Place the pan inside a larger baking dish. Pour about one inch of hot water into the outer dish to create a water bath, which ensures gentle, even cooking of the flan. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the flan is set and a toothpick inserted into the cake layer comes out clean.
- Cool and refrigerate: Allow the chocoflan to cool completely at room temperature. Then refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, to allow the dessert to firm up and develop its flavors fully.
- Serve: When ready to serve, carefully invert the pan onto a serving plate so that the cajeta layer is on top, revealing the beautiful flan and cake layers.
Notes
- Using Mexican vanilla extract enhances the authentic flavor of the flan.
- The water bath (bain-marie) is essential to prevent the flan from cracking and to ensure a smooth texture.
- Ensure the cream cheese is well softened to avoid lumps in the flan.
- Refrigerating the chocoflan overnight improves the slicing and flavor melding.
- If cajeta (Mexican caramel sauce) is not available, dulce de leche can be used as a substitute.
- Use a pan with taller sides to prevent water from spilling into the cake pan during the water bath baking process.
