The Most Delicious and Authentic Chocoflan Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why did my chocoflan fall apart? ›

The bottom of the pan should feel cool to touch or at least feel room temperature, not warm. If it is not cool enough it can fall apart when you take it out of the pan, so don't skimp on this step.

It's been called “The Impossible Chocolate Cake” and “Magic Mexican Chocolate Flan Cake,” but I prefer calling it “Chocoflan!” Chocoflan is a combination of chocolate cake on the bottom with a luscious flan on top.

Chocoflan baking temperature

Getting the magic flip to happen is dependent on temperature. If the oven is too cool, the leavening agents won't react well enough before the starches gelatinize. The result is a dense cake that won't be light enough to rise up through the flan batter.

Remove the bundt cake pan from the water bath and place on a cooling rack. Let the cake cool for 2 hours until very cool. At this time, you can place in the refrigerator overnight, or flip onto a plate.

Cool fully in the refrigerator at least 2 hours, preferably overnight. When ready to serve, run a paring knife or offset spatula along the edge to loosen the flan from the dish and flip over onto a rimmed plate to catch the caramel sauce.

In the oven, the cake's leavening is activated, filling the batter with bubbles causing it to rise through the flan (it does this in clumps) and reform into a chocolate cake layer.

The recorded history of chocoflan is sketchy at best. While stories of its genesis vary, there seems to be one common thread suggesting it's a fusion of French crème caramel and Mexican chocolate cake that developed in the early- to mid-19th century.

Flan may refer to: Crème caramel, a custard dessert with clear caramel sauce, the most common US meaning. Flan (pie), an open sweet or savoury tart, the most common UK meaning.

Elsewhere, including in Britain, a flan is a type of tart somewhat like a quiche. The Modern English word flan comes from French flan, from Old French flaon, in turn from Medieval Latin fladonem, derived from the Old High German flado, a sort of flat cake, probably from an Indo-European root for 'flat' or 'broad'.

Place cake pan in large roasting pan; add 1 inch of hot water to roasting pan. Bake 1 hour 20 minutes to ensure cake AND flan layer bake completely (toothpick inserted in center of cake will come out clean).

Is Chocoflan supposed to be refrigerated? ›

Once the chocoflan is cool, you need to refrigerate it to set the flan even more. Tightly cover the top of the bundt pan in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight. At this point, you can refrigerate the chocoflan for up to 3 days before turning out and serving.

Apparently, by combining baking soda and acidic buttermilk in the cake batter, it produces a gas, making the cake less dense than the flan. The lighter cake layer rises and the denser flan layer sinks. The Chocoflan is then baked in a water bath, which is essential in making the process occur.

Flan does contain high amount of calcium but the cholesterol and amount of sugar over powers the calcium benefits. One serving (3.5 oz / 100g) of flan has close to 36 grams sugar. It is and seem quite high until you compare it with a can of soda which contains about 44g of sugar.

Make sure to check your flan around the 60 minute mark. Just insert a toothpick in the cake to make sure it comes out clean, which means it's done baking. If not, keep baking. At the last 10 minutes you may also remove the aluminum foil that's covering your pan.

Homemade flan can last for about 2 to 4 days in the refrigerator. Store-bought flan might have a longer shelf life depending on the preservatives used which can usually be detected by checking the printed date on the package. Once opened, the flan should be consumed within 2 days for the best taste and quality.

The eggs are what help the custard set, and without them, the flan would fall apart. While it may be a lot of egg yolks, the end result will be completely worth it!

The cake was under-baked: The cake will be very moist and difficult to handle. With the whipped cream it may have too much moisture and will fall apart easily. The cake was over-baked: If over-baked the cake will be a lot drier and more prone to cracks. A crack in your roll can cause the swiss roll to fall apart.

The oven temperature is too high. If the top crust forms and sets before the cake has finished rising, the middle will try to push through the crust as it continues to bake, causing it to crack and possibly dome. Check your oven with an oven thermometer and reduce the temperature accordingly if it is running hot.

(Do not overcook – otherwise your flan will have “bubbles” on the side and will have a curdled texture to it.)