Choco-Flan Cake with Caramel Sauce

"Divine!" was how one of my co-workers described this cake as she was recommending it for our other co-workers to try. I brought it to work when I was on duty on Easter Day.

Our unit secretary asked for the recipe.

It does not only look beautiful and tempting, it is one exquisitely delectable dessert that looks hard to prepare. However, I used a cake mix for the chocolate cake. So it wasn't really that hard, especially if you plan ahead. The nice thing about it is, you can prepare this 2-3 days prior to serving.

Everyone who has tasted it loved it. The only exception is my husband, because he does not like deviating much from his traditional favorites. He'd rather have the (boxed) chocolate cake with the traditional chocolate frosting.

I did not have any trouble embracing this "deviation" since the procedure is so much like that of the (Filipino) custard cake.

I gave a big slice (good for 2-3 people) to my good friend Anna, and within minutes, she had finished the whole thing.

I got inspired to create my own version of choco flan cake when I saw a photo of it posted by my fb friend Dixie. I thought it was soooo pretty, and got intrigued as to the taste -- how flan would go with chocolate cake.

For the flan part, my procedure is same as for leche flan, but I made a slight change in the recipe as a result of collaboration with an fb friend Celia.

The result was heavenly!

Ingredients:
- For caramel sauce #1 (in the cake) -
1/4 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy or whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

- For caramel sauce #2 (to pour on cake) -
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy or whipping cream

- For the flan -
1 can condensed milk
1 can evap milk
3 eggs
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla

- For chocolate cake -
1 package Devil's Food cake mix (I used Pillsbury)
1 & 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs, separated
1/4 cup sugar

Instructions:


~ For the caramel sauce #1 ~Melt butter on medium low heat. Add brown sugar and stir continuously until gooey. Add the whipping/heavy cream and continue stirring until you achieve a syrupy consistency. You may even want to reach the boiling point, and that is fine.

Spray your bundt pan with oil (I use the butter-flavored Pam spray.). Pour some caramel sauce into the bundt pan to about 1/4 inch thickness (just approximate). If your bundt pan is not big enough for the whole mixture (like mine), have 2-3 ramekins ready as well. You will have three layers in this cake - thin caramel sauce layer, thick flan layer and thick chocolate cake layer.

Make the caramel sauce #2 in the same manner. This sauce will be thinner than #1. Combine this with the leftover caramel sauce #1. Transfer while warm into a ceramic or other non-metallic container that will be okay for microwaving later.

Pour tap-cold water into a 9x13 deep lasagna pan enough so it will come up about one inch the sides of the bundt pan and ramekins. Place the bundt pan/ramekins in the water bath.

~ For the flan ~
Place evap milk into the blender. Add the cream cheese and blend well using pulse setting. Add the eggs, condensed milk and vanilla. Beat on pulse setting until well blended. Set aside.

~ For the chocolate cake ~
Measure the water and oil and place in a cup. Separate egg yolks from the white. Place the yolks together with oil and water. Place egg whites in a big mixing bowl.

Empty the contents of cake mix in a mixing bowl. Make a well at the center. Place liquid ingredients in the center. Using handheld mixer, blend well for about 1-2 minutes and set aside. Meanwhile, start beating the white on moderate speed with a balloon whisk using stand mixer. Slowly add the 1/4 cup sugar into the whites when foamy, and beat on high until glossy and stiff. (The sugar helps stabilize it.)

Fold the whites into the cake batter. This will help lighten the cake batter so that it will float.

Pre-heat oven to 325 °F.

Pour the leche flan into the prepared pans to about half the thickness or less of the whole cake. Next, gently pour the chocolate cake onto the flan. If you folded the whites good, this batter should float.

Bake the ramekins for about 45 minutes then take out (for some reason, the glass ramekins take long; maybe shorter for metal ramekins). Bake the bundt pan for another 15-20 minutes or until the cake is done (cracked on top and sounds hollow when tapped). (Adjust your baking time if you have larger bundt pan.). Take out of the oven and let sit on a cooling wire rack. IMPORTANT: Let them cool to room temperature completely, as the flan continues to cook in the residual heat. If you try to eat them while still warm, the flan will be runny.

Once fully cooled to room temperature, chill in the fridge at least overnight. This stage is important as well, because the chilling stage helps the flan set. Place your caramel sauce (for pouring) in the fridge as well.

When ready to serve, place some warm water into a pan and warm the bottom of the bundt pan for a while to somehow melt the caramel sauce (I should have done this with mine but I forgot due to excitement). Invert onto a cake pan. Microwave the caramel sauce for 30 seconds and give it a stir. Pour caramel sauce onto the cake for tempting appearance and reserve some for serving.

WARNING: This is so rich that a thin slice will fill you up quickly (although our unit secretary had to control herself from hogging the whole thing, according to her.)


Comments

  1. chocolate-flavored custard might also work...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ohhh, my golly by golly!! Manang you're tempting me!! Pag kapit bahay lang kita lulusubin ko ang iyong kusina!!! From the picture and ingredients i can tell this cake is heavenly!!This is a must-copy and must- try recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nina,
    That is a good idea. Maybe if hubby sees chocolate flan, he might try it. Nevermind that it would not show the striking color contrast.

    MaMely,
    Kung kapitbahay kita, dami kong matututunan sa yo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I tried leche flan and pandan cake it taste really good... My sister loves it, it only took like 10 mins right after I presented it to them... Coz I dont like the original custard with lemon I tried panda and it really works ty for your help manang you are really a sister to me hehehe ty for this another recipe this is gonna be for my bf bday... Godbless po

      Delete
    2. Hi Anonymous,
      That idea sounds great! Pandan-flan cake...hmmmm...maybe I should try that one too.

      Delete
  4. Hi manang, for the flan did you only used the eggyolks? Coz i wanted to try this. I already did your filipino custard cake and it was so yummy and i remembered you used the whole eggs for the flan .Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  5. HI Anonymous, I used whole eggs as well. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. hi manang,sarap nmn yan, buti n lng d nataba ung hubby nyo hehehe...anyway ask ko lng po kung pede po bang heavy cream na din ilagay ko sa flan ko?salamat po.

    belle

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi belle,
    Hindi naman pinapatulan ng hubby ko ang leche flan eh...at gusto nya sa chocolate cake, plain and traditional...haha!
    Pwede heavy cream gamitin mo :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Manang! I love your website! I tried making your leche flan and I've been using your recipe ever since. Who knew that leche flan could be so easy. The whisk that you use to make the first caramel sauce, where did you get it po? I love kitchen utensils haha

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow, I had no idea Filipino food was so amazing. Thank you for these great recipes. You obviously spend a lot of time on this site, good job.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hello manang,Thanks for this napakasarap na recipe..We love it very much...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Tsarap naman. Tataba ako nito. :D pag sweets talaga nglalaway na ako hehehe. Tnx for the recipe. Hope i can make it right...

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi bing,
    Sorry for this late reply. I did not realize I have not answered your q yet. I got my flat whisk at amazon, if my memory serves me right.

    KA 600,
    Thanks. I do work hard to come up with quality posts that my readers will understand or at least relate to.

    Hi Anonymous,
    Thanks. We love this recipe too. Highly in demand by my co-workers.

    Hi jelbee,
    Kayang-kaya mo yan. :) I hope the video will make it easier for you to envision how to make this.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hello Manang,

    Thank you for sharing your talent in cooking sa napakaraming Pilipino around the world marami ako natututunan sa inyo.

    I want to make this recipe for my husband kaya lang po naka blocked po yung video hindi daw po available sa aming lugar nasa korea po kasi kami naka base now. same din po ba ito ng procedures dun sa custard cake?

    God bless you always and your family.

    MMR

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi MMR, Thanks for your kind words. Yes, same procedures sa custard cake.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Manang,

    In your procedure for the flan, you wrote 3 eggyolks...what are you going to do with the whites? Can I add these eegwhites to the cake recipe?

    MedTech2003

    ReplyDelete
  16. HI Medtech2003,
    It was a typo error. I corrected it to eggs instead of egg yolks. Thanks for catching that!

    ReplyDelete
  17. hello manang!
    Thanks sa recipe mo! everyone loves it!!! made it for thanksgiving party! sya ang mabili sa lahat...

    ReplyDelete
  18. HI Anonymous, Glad to hear that! Hindi nasayang ang effort mo!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Manang ask ko lng po kng pwede gumamit ng ibang cake recipe? mag float pa din ba yon? yng cake recipe ko po kasi walang egg

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi pamskie, Pwede siguro kung yung cake recipe mo, i-fold mo ang beaten egg white (kahit isa lang na egg white para mag lighten up yung batter). Hwag ka lang gagamit ng super dense na cake batter (gaya ng brownie).

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh My God! I'll forget the custard cake for a while (that will wait for next baking time)...I'll try this first! Thank you so much for sharing! God Bless!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Phia, go for it. My co-workers are requesting this again for our mini-Christmas Dinner on Sunday.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Greetings Manang! Thanks for this delish recipe, made it for our get together dinner and it was really a hit. They've asked me where i got the recipe from and i told them it's from your website...did encouraged my friends to have a look at your website coz it's really good and very informative. Thanks for the sharing and never get tired of sharing good recipes with us! God bless!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hi Anonymous, Thanks for your comment with your wonderful feedback, and for directing your friends to my website! Very much appreciated.:)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hi Manang,

    Gusto ko itry to for my husband's bday..May suggested recipe po ba kayo instead of Devil's food cake mix? Sometimes kc walang mabiling devil's food cake mix dito e. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Unknown, kahit anong chocolate cake mix should do. Just remember to separate the egg white first so you can beat it later and fold it into the cake batter to make it airy.

      Delete
  26. Hi Manang,

    Just wanted to ask how do you make / prepare crispy fried chicken?

    Thanks.

    Habibi

    ReplyDelete
  27. hi , i am from toronto canada .and i make this cake often myself. my family calls it the magic cake because the flan and cake separates while cooking. altho your method of pouring the cake over the flan is ok, i find that pouring the flan over the cake is much easier. you can see them combining BUT somehow it separates when done. i sprinkle chopped pecans on top of the flan for variation . i used to make the cake from scratch but i tried the duncan hines cake mix and it works excellently. also, i do not even bother to beat the egg whites... that makes it even more super easy. thanks for sharing tess cruz

    ReplyDelete
  28. Thank you Manang for this scrumptious recipe! I made this today for a family gathering and it was a huge hit!! You are my new favorite food blogger!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous,
      Thanks for your feedback! It is indeed very scrumptious!

      Delete
  29. Thank you very much for this recipe! I made it yesterday. I did not have any cream cheese so I replaced it with peanut butter. The peanut butter leche flan was delicious and complemented the chocolate cake. -SLP

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anonymous,
      Peanut butter sounds like a great idea! Thanks for your feedback!

      Delete
  30. I'm Joel Reyes, a new subscriber in your site, Maraming salamat sa pag post ng mga video dito. I'm doing baking in american way, that my way of living now for almost 10years in the US, while working in the Gulf of Mexico in the Oil Industries, since there is a lots of Filipinos workers in our facilities, i decided to look around for a Filipino dessert and i found your site, i will start using your site for more idea cooking Pilipino style.

    Maraming Salamat.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Thank you for the recipe, Manang! I made it and came out amazing! I simplified the procedure a little bit because I did not have enough time to work through all the steps you pointed out, and still it is so yummy! Iva

    ReplyDelete
  32. "For the flan -
    1 can condensed milk
    1 can evap milk " .. how much "in liter or mlli-liter" because I don't know the size of your can ..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi manang, have you replied to this po? This is exactly my doubt kahit na nagawa kona to before. Diko lang matandaan how much I used. :)

      Delete
  33. Hi manang ,
    can I eliminated the cream cheese, coz my hubby doesnt eat cheese

    ReplyDelete
  34. pwede po ba steam po instead oven po.. wala po kasi ako oven.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Pwede steam, just make sure you use some cheesecloth or whatever else to absorb excess moisture para hindi maging soggy yung cake mo.

    ReplyDelete
  36. hi po.gusto ko lng po malaman kung sa taas o baba ung apoy ng oven.this wil be my first time to bake and i really want to try this one pero ung oven ko ay either sa taas o baba lang ang apoy.thanku po

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, parehong nasa taas at baba ang apoy ng oven ko eh. Meron ka bang setting na ganon?

      Delete
    2. wla din manang.but i will still try to make this.excited na po ako.thanks for the nice recipe.

      Delete
    3. Piliin mo na lang yung babang apoy

      Delete
  37. Yquizoocuido Bei Howard download
    paemofojohn

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

If you ask a question in the comments and want to receive email for my answer, please click on the option to notify you by email before you hit submit.
If you like my recipes, please subscribe to Kusina ni Manang, at paki-klik lang po some gugel adverts. Salamat!

Popular Posts