Flan Cake

This Flan Cake is the famous Brazilian Pudim Cake. And it’s one of my favorite desserts.

Taste wise, it’s phenomenal, unbeatable.

A very moist chocolate cake under a silky flan, and don’t forget about the sticky caramel layer on top.

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Flan Cake

This is the type of dessert that you bring to a celebration, maybe an end of the year party. Impress your guests with this marvelous dessert, scrumptious treat! I am positive everyone will love you for it.

And the best thing, this Flan Cake is totally super easy to make!

Just follow my instructions and tips bellow!

Flan Cake

This Flan Cake is also known as Chocoflan in Latin America. And it’s extremely popular because of being so delicious.

Flan Cake is also usually known as Magic Cake, or even Impossible Cake. And that’s because the batters invert as you bake the cake. You pour the chocolate cake batter on the bottom of the pan, and it will rise to the top of the pan as it bakes. And finally, it will end up in the bottom of the final cake once you flip it upside down onto a plate.

Therefore… Impossible Cake, or Magic Cake!

So here are some tips on making this Flan Cake:

Bundt Pan

Grease your Bundt pan with some vegetable shortening, and then sprinkle granulated sugar all over it, and tap the pan over the sink to shake off the excess sugar.

Flan Cake

Caramel

To make the caramel, simply melt the sugar in a pan with a heavy bottom, over medium heat, ALWAYS stirring. This way, the sugar will melt evenly.

Once the sugar has melted and browned slightly, remove the pan from the heat and add water to it.

The mixture will crystalize. You have to bring it back to the heat, and melt the sugar again. Always stirring.

Let the syrup cool down until it’s room temperature.

Then, pour cooled mixture over greased and sugared bundt pan.

Flan Cake

And now, place the pan in the freezer while you make the cake. This way, the caramel will have hardened and won’t mix with the batter when you add that later.

Assembly

Now here’s the biggest trick.

You add the chocolate cake to the bottom of the pan, directly on top of the hardened caramel. And you pour the flan on top of the cake.

Flan Cake

Sounds crazy, but trust me, it works! The flan batter will go to the bottom of the pan, and the cake batter will float to the top. And your cake will bake exactly like the pictures.

Flan Cake

Baking

To bake the flan cake, use a water bath.

I usually use a large turkey roasting pan (this is a cheap pan I use exclusively for my water baths, for cheesecake and etc). But any large pan will do, as long as you are able to add water to it, up to the middle of the height of the bundt pan.

Disassembling

After baking your Flan Cake, let it cool down. Then transfer the bundt pan to the fridge, where you will let your Flan Cake rest for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.

Remove the cake from the fridge.

Now, use the same pan where you had your water bath in. Pour some hot water in that pan, and place the bundt pan over the hot water. This will help the caramel loosen from the bottom by melting it slightly.

Give the bundt pan a little jiggle, and if the cake jiggles around, you are good to go. Otherwise, place it back over the hot water.

And now you are ready to turn this Flan Cake into a plate.

Flan Cake

I have a feeling everyone around you will adore you for making this.

And as you can see above, this is not a difficult recipe at all.

Flan Cake

I ended up sharing my flan cake with my neighbors, and with some friends. But that was after I had a huge delicious slice.

Since I make lots of desserts, I try not to eat too much of them. Sometimes I’ll just taste test.

However, I did save some space in my stomach for a big slice of this one, since it’s a recipe that lives so close to my heart. Because it is a Brazilian recipe, and one of the first things I’ve ever baked years and years ago when I was about 17 years old. I mean, I’m not using that same recipe, since I don’t have it anymore. So I had to go search for another recipe.

So it doesn’t matter if you know it as Chocoflan, Pudim Cake, Impossible Cake, Magic Cake, or Flan Cake (so many names!!!) you will LOVE this decadent dessert!

Flan Cake

Trending recipes at the moment: Lemon Macarons, Raspberry Macarons.

Recipes to make for the Holiday Celebrations: Pecan Fig Cake, Cashew Caramel Babka.

What I am craving for today: Cannoli.

Flan Cake

Flan Cake

The base of the cake is chocolate. On top, a layer of caramel flan. Impossible to resist.
4.75 from 20 votes
Prep Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours
Course Dessert
Cuisine brazilian
Servings 12 people
Calories 320 kcal

Ingredients
  

Caramel
  • 1 cup granulated sugar 200 grams, 7 oz
  • 1/2 cup water room temperature (113 grams, 4 oz)
Chocolate Cake
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 191 grams, 6.75 oz
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 60 grams, 2.1 oz
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature (170 grams, 6 oz)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar 200 grams, 7 oz
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup milk 113 grams, 4 oz
Flan
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream 113 grams, 4 oz
  • 1 condensed milk can 396 grams, 14 oz
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 15 grams, 0.5 oz

Instructions
 

Caramel
  • To make the caramel, start by melting sugar in a small pan over medium heat.
  • Make sure to use a pan with a heavy bottom so your caramel doesn’t start burning in some spots that might get too hot.
  • Never stop stirring the sugar as it melts. Because you want it to melt evenly.
  • Once all the sugar has melted, your syrup will probably be slightly browned.
  • When your syrup is smooth, with no sugar granules or lumps, you are going to take the pan out of the heat.
  • Now, be careful with this next step. You are going to pour the 1/2 cup of water over the melted sugar. It will probably splash, so you need to be careful and maintain your distance, as well as make sure to do this slowly.
  • Once you’ve poured the water over the caramel syrup, you will notice that the caramel will have hardened up.
  • Bring mixture back to the heat, and keep stirring with your spatula until all the sugar has re-melted.
  • Once the syrup is smooth and with a deep amber color, you can remove from the oven. It’s supposed to be a very thin and light syrup.
  • You can make it into a thicker syrup by boiling the mixture for a few more minutes. I just find it works better for the flan to have a slightly thinner caramel, since it will keep cooking in the oven later on.
  • Remove caramel to a heat-safe container. Let it cool to room temperature.
Chocolate Cake
  • Pre-heat oven to 350F.
  • Grease a bundt pan thoroughly with vegetable shortening. Sprinkle granulated sugar all over it.
  • Tap pan over the sink to remove excess sugar.
  • Pour cooled caramel on the bottom of greased bundt pan. Insert it in the freezer while you make the cake and the flan.
  • You want the caramel layer to be hard when you pour the cake batter in the pan, because otherwise the caramel is just going to mix with the ingredients of the batter.
  • Start by sifting the dry ingredients together: flour, salt, baking powder, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
  • Cream butter with an electric mixer.
  • Add sugar, cream both together for about 1 minute until the mixture is fluffy and pale in color.
  • Add eggs one at a time, waiting to incorporate one egg before adding the next one.
  • Add vanilla.
  • Add milk. Mix to combine.
  • Now you are going to add the sifted dry ingredients to the bowl.
  • Mix using a spatula preferably
  • Be careful not to overmix. Just stir until there are no more dry ingredients in the batter.
  • If the mixture is lumpy, you can use a whisk to help smooth it out, but again, don’t overmix anything!
Flan
  • Slightly beat the eggs before adding all of the other ingredients to the batter.
  • That prevents any egg “lumps” that might form.
  • In a blender, mix beaten eggs, condensed milk, heavy cream, vanilla, and flour.
  • Blend mix on high for 1-2 minutes, depending on the potency of your blender.
  • You are looking for a smooth thin and runny batter.
To assemble
  • Pour chocolate mixture over chilled and hardened caramel layer in the bundt pan. Use a spatula to smooth out the top of the chocolate cake batter.
  • Pour flan batter over chocolate cake, slowly and carefully.
  • Now place cake in the oven, over a water bath. Cover the bundt pan tight with foil. And bake for 1 hour-1 1/2 hours.
  • For my water bath I use a large turkey roasting pan, works with my cheesecake pans too.
  • Make sure you use hot water in your water bath, fill it up to the middle of the height of the bundt pan.
  • 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.
  • Let flan cool down, place it in the fridge for 6 hours or overnight.
  • When you are ready to remove the flan from the pan, just fill up a large pan with some hot water, place the bundt pan in the water bath, so this way it will help loosen up the caramel that’s on the bottom of the bundt pan, for easy removal.
  • If you skip this step, your cake might not come out of the pan, or what’s even worse, it might break.
Storage:
  • Store it in your fridge, covered, for up to 5 days.
Keyword bundt, cake, caramel, flan

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113 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This is like magic cake/flan! As always you have the best pictures, the best tips, and the most droo lworthy recipe. I do not want to wait for a special occasion to make this. I need to have it now.

      1. Camila – what size bundt pan did you use for this magic cake. I want to make it next weekend for a party. Thanks

    1. 5 stars
      Hello!! OMG the first time I did it and it came soooo well I used a round cake pan and it is flawless 🙂 Thanks for all the tips I think that’s the difference between a simple recipe and your excellent detailing. Thank you thank you! Greetings from México!

  2. Have you figured out the proportions for a thicker layer of flan? If you have, could you please post them? If you have not tried that yet, can I just double the fan recipe? If I do that, do you have any suggestions about how much additional cooking time will be needed without drying out the cake part of the dish?

    Thanks

    1. I haven’t tried yet but I want to try making 1 1/2 recipe for the flan next time, and as far as baking time goes, might affect it by a few minutes, but not by much I assume.

    2. Hi! I’m wondering how much ahead of time I can take it out of the pan to plate it? We are planning to eat it tomorrow for my husband’s birthday but if it doesn’t work out I’d like to have time to prepare something else

  3. Planning to make this soon!! I am wondering if I were to add chocolate chips to the cake layer if it would still rise to the top. Do you have any thoughts on this?

    thanks!

    1. That’s an interesting question but I am assuming it would be at the bottom with the cake, but I can’t guarantee it since I haven’t tried it. It’s worth the try, I mean it will probably be delicious!!!!! Thank you so much!

  4. I just made this for dessert tonight and when I turned it out, the flan layer feels pretty firm. Is this normal? Should I set it out at room temperature so it becomes less cold or is straight from the fridge the way to eat it?

  5. Have you tried making this in a pan other than a bundt? I want to make this today, but I only have an old school bundt pan with the grooves.
    So excited to try it, thanks for the amazing recipe!!

    1. I have never tried making this in another pan, but as long as you grease it well, it should be fine. Maybe the cooking time will vary, just keep an eye out for the signs that the bundt is baked, insert a toothpick in the cake and if it comes out clean, means it’s probably done. also poke the top of the cake with your finger gently and if it springs back, means the cake is done. Hope you enjoy it! Thanks for writing!

    1. Ohhhh the coffee and Kahlua combo sounds amazing!! nice one! Thank you so much for making my recipe!! I bet your cake was fantastic!!! I will jot this down about the coffee and kahlua combo!!

      1. I bet that was pretty. I made it with a fancy Bundt pan and it came out fine. The caramel ran down maybe because I kept it in the warm water too long to loosen it. It wasn’t pretty like the pictures, but oh so delicious!

  6. 4 stars
    The taste was incredible but it absolutely would not come out of the bundt pan. I did not have an angel food cake pan which I suspect is a must. I tried every trick I know…the hot water bath release, the room temperature method, I even tried a small heating pad haha! No go. So, we ended up scooping it out with spoons. It was so good no one cared it didn’t come out of the pan!

    1. I would not try this cake with an angel food cake pan, because the caramel would leak out. Make sure to grease the pan really well with shortening and sugar, and dont forget the caramel on the bottom before adding the cake batter to the pan. Put the pan in the fridge so the caramel will have a chance to harden before you pour the batter on top.

      1. Wish I would have seen this earlier. Thought I wrapped the lower part of the pan in foil, the flan looks like it is leaking out. Will see what the final outcome is once it cools. 😢

  7. 5 stars
    I am brasilian and made already this cake many times. It is always chosen by my daughters in especial ocasions.. Good tip.

  8. Dear Camila,

    What a beautiful recipe, I cannot wait to try it! I just hope that I can, for the ingredients of the flan pose a tiny problem for me. See, where I live (the Netherlands), there’s no such thing as ‘heavy cream’. The cream with the highest fat content that is available to me, is whipped cream (about 35% fat, rather than the 36 to 40% in most heavy cream products I see online). Do you think that would work equally well, or should I mix in some mascarpone or another egg or something else to increase the fat content and stiffen up the flan mixture a bit more? I hope you can help me, for your cake looks S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G – as do all your other recipes – and I look forward to making it! Best, Sarah

    1. It will work perfectly fine with that cream! Some recipes in brazil even use just milk for this instead of cream, so you’ll be fine!! Hope you make it!! Thank you so much for your nice words, Sarah! Have a lovely day, Happy baking!!!

    2. Hi,
      Looks so delicious,
      Can i use for the flan evaporated milk, instead of whipping cream?
      Thank you so much for sharing your delicious things

  9. 5 stars
    I’m putting this in the oven now but I’m honestly super nervous because I’m 100% sure I overmixed my cake batter as it’s super fluffy. 😭 I’m going to go ahead and baked it because I’ve been putting this cake together for the past hour. Hopefully it still turns it alright! The flavor of the batter was delicious at least.

  10. Mine is baking in the oven as i write this. I added cinnamon to the chocolate cake batter, as cinnamon and chocolate are often found together in latin american recipes that I’ve seen. The cake batter floated to the top as soon as i poured the flan mixture in. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

      1. Hi Camila,

        Well, today I took the flan cake out of the bundt pan. I sat the pan in hot water prior. I had a mess. Caramel ran everywhere. Some of the flan collapsed in to the center, and it doesn’t have the nice smooth edges that yours does. Perhaps the water was too hot(boiling) or I left the pan sit too long? I’m trying to troubleshoot.

        Also, I have a question. Is a bundt pan necessary, or could this be made with a spring form pan?

        I also wanted to add that I really appreciate you responding so quickly.

        1. It just sounds like you didn’t bake enough perhaps, for the flan to have collapsed.
          How long did you leave the flan sitting on the pan of hot water before flipping onto a plate?
          And a spring form pan would leak the contents all over the place!
          I am sorry you didn’t have a great experience, Lisa!
          Thanks for reporting back!
          I hope you have a lovely day.

          1. I sat the pan in a hot water for 5 to 10 min, but it was boiling hot, not warm. Im making another one today in a smoother pan. The cake seemed to be done when i tested it with a toothpick. This time ill try warm water instead of hot, and bake it for 5 additional minutes. Now I’ll have two cakes…one for work, and one for home!

  11. 3 stars
    I love the flavor , but for me, appearance is just as important as taste. I have made this twice now, and i am unable to duplicate your results. The 2nd time i used a ring pan (smooth, no scalloped edges) thinking it would give me better results. I greased and sugared the pan thoroughly. It stuck in the pan, and I ended up with another caramel avalanche when i warmed the pan and inverted it. I’m positive that I followed your instructions to the letter.

    If i could get the same results as your photograph, this would be a keeper, but its been a mess noth both times.

    I give it 4 stars for flavor, 2 for appearance, based solely on my teo experiences.

    1. Hello Lisa, I am so sorry you didn’t have a good experience. For the flan to be collapsing, it’s probably because it hasn’t been baked enough, like I told you on the previous comment.
      And I should probably add another tip in the recipe post, which I see isnt there, is that you should move the pan around and have the flan jiggle in there. If this doesnt happen, your flan probably won’t be baked through. And if the toothpick wasn’t inserted all the way to the bottom, you wont be able to tell if the flan was baked, since the chocolate cake will bake faster than the flan. So the toothpick will come out clean only because the chocolate cake will be baked, but not necessarily the flan.
      Anyway, thank you for your feedback, I hope it helps others who bake this recipe. Again, I am sorry you didn’t have a good experience with this recipe.

      1. 4 stars
        I made this cake over the weekend and it tasted great. My only problem was most of the caramel melted when I was trying to remove the cake from the pan. I spooned it over the cake instead. Can’t wait to try it again.

  12. 5 stars
    Dear Camila,

    I’ve commented before (in August, about the lack of heavy cream in the Netherlands) and told you I’d let you know how the cake turned out. Well, I finally got around to baking it this weekend and it’s a huuuge hit! 🙂 Everyone loves it: ‘fudgy and creamy’ and ‘wickedly good’ is what my ‘testers’ reported back (unfortunately, I could not try it myself due to a migraine-prevention diet I am currently on). It looks gorgeous too – the layers are very well defined, though the outside does show some ‘chocolatey blemishes’ on the flan-layer (like the hide of a spotted cow), whilst yours is a spotless light golden colour – which I think is even more gorgeous. However, once you cut into it, it is very sleek looking with nicely separated layers. Also, quite a forgiving recipe I’d say, for I feared I had hopelessly overbaked it (that skewer just would not come out clean, so I think I had it in the oven (fan, 160 C)for close to 1h and 45minutes!) but it’s not dry at all. Safe to say: this is a keeper! I am already thinking of a good occasion to bake it again 😉 I have 2 questions though if that’s alright: do you have any tips as to how to prevent the blotchiness on the outer rim? And why do we add the water to the caramel layer – I’ve seen so many recipes that omit it so I was wondering why you recommend incorporating it. Thanks again for such a brilliant recipe! 🙂 Sarah

  13. Dear Camila,

    I’ve commented before (in August, about the lack of heavy cream in the Netherlands) and told you I’d let you know how the cake turned out. Well, I finally got around to baking it this weekend and it’s a huuuge hit! 🙂 Everyone loves it: ‘fudgy and creamy’ and ‘wickedly good’ is what my ‘testers’ reported back (unfortunately, I could not try it myself due to a migraine-prevention diet I am currently on). It looks gorgeous too – the layers are very well defined, though the outside does show some ‘chocolatey blemishes’ on the flan-layer (like the hide of a spotted cow), whilst yours is a spotless light golden color – which I think is even more gorgeous. However, once you cut into it, it is very sleek looking with nicely separated layers. Also, quite a forgiving recipe I’d say, for I feared I had hopelessly overbaked it (that skewer just would not come out clean, so I think I had it in the oven (fan, 160 C)for close to 1h and 45minutes!) but it’s not dry at all. Safe to say: this is a keeper! I am already thinking of a good occasion to bake it again 😉 I have 2 questions though if that’s alright: do you have any tips as to how to prevent the blotchiness on the outer rim? And why do we add the water to the caramel layer – I’ve seen so many recipes that omit it so I was wondering why you recommend incorporating it. Thanks again for such a brilliant recipe! 🙂 Sarah

  14. With Holidays coming up, I really want to try this. Question, however: what size pan are you using for this recipe? If I use a pan that’s too large, it won’t work so well. Also, is a tube pan necessary, or could a solid/regular cake pan be used, and what size? TIA for your assistance.

    1. I have used a 12 cup bundt pan to make this. And yes you can make it on a solid cake pan, I’ve seen it done before, a 10″ pan might work just fine, since my 12 cup bundt pan is 10″ diameter and 3.5″ high, and it has the tube in the middle, so I am assuming a 10″ or 12″ cake pan would work well.
      Let me know how it goes!! I hope you enjoy it!
      Have a fabulous day!!!

  15. Hi Camilla, your cake looks so good. Just wondering when you say you can store in the fridge for 5 days covered, is that still in the pan not turned out or after it’s turned out? I’d love to try to make it today but will be eaten for Christmas Eve. Thank you for your help

    1. I would take it out of the pan a day after making it. So make the flan, then place it in the fridge at least for 6 hours or overnight preferably, and then you can flip it onto a plate. Remember to put it in some warm water so the caramel on the bottom will soften so you can remove the cake from the pan. When you give the pan a wiggle and the cake jiggles around in there, you can flip it onto a plate.
      Then, make sure to cover it nicely with a lid, or something, so it doesn’t get dry in the fridge, and you can store it for up to 5 days 🙂

  16. As we speak my Flan Cake is in the oven, fingers crossed it comes looking as delicious as yours. 🤞🏻🤞🏻
    I will post pictures once it’s done 🍮

  17. Can you omit cocoa and replace it with more flour if I just want vanilla flavor for the cake part? Thanks in advance!

  18. What a very interesting and I must say scrumptious cake! My only problem is that the caramel ran when I turned it out. Maybe it was too long in the warm water. I making it again tonight and taking it to a dinner party in a couple of days. My reputation will be made with this cake! Thanks for the wonderful directions. So helpful.

    1. Yes that’s probably what happened, Chris! Try leaving it a little less time in the warm water. give the pan a wiggle and as soon as the cake jiggles around in there it’s ready to turn into the plate!! Everyone will love it! Every time I bring it somewhere it’s a hit! Thank you!!!

  19. 5 stars
    I love the idea of this recipe, but on my second attempt, the caramel layer just ran all off the cake. I kept it in the water to loosen it only about 30 seconds (not like the first time when I let it sit for much longer and the caramel took off without the cake). The other problem is that I didn’t get the lovely definition between layers. The flan was muddy looking and the cake did not have that dark chocolate color in your picture. I REALLY want to make it for another function because it tastes so darn good, but I like pretty. Any other hints?

    1. So when you say the caramel took off without the cake, what does that mean, because there’s supposed to be quite a bit of caramel sauce in the pan, you’re supposed to spoon this on top of the cake. The caramel won’t bake into the cake.
      What does muddy looking mean? Do you have any pictures you can email me?
      Also, the chocolate cake not having the same color could be due to the ingredients you are using. I make this flan in a chocolate version on this recipe here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjFKpuVdkW0&t=211s the recipe is pretty much the same but the flan layer is pumpkin flavored, but maybe watching this video can help you see what the method is like? Also, the chocolate cake and the caramel are exactly the same recipe from this Flan Cake.
      Hope it all works out!

  20. Hi Camila,
    Omg, what a hit. I haves saved this recipe since last August and Just made it on Saturday. It was a long process but boy!!!! It was worth ittttttttt! The whole family loved it and it turned out perfect as well. I have shared the recipe 4 times already
    . Great job and thank you.

  21. Hi! I am making this recipe today and had to use a Duncan Chocolate Cake mix due to the limited baking supplies at the grocery store. I have the cake in the oven and nearing 1.5 hours baking. Will the cake be okay with this substitution?

  22. Hi! I can’t wait to try this! I do have two questions:

    I ordered my bundt cake pan, and turns out it is 16 cups. Will this work okay? Maybe if I just reduce the baking time slightly?

    When you say condensed milk, do you mean sweetened condensed milk? Or evaporated milk?

    Thanks!!

    1. Sweetened condensed milk. And it will be ok, but the cake might not be so tall, it will be shorter, but wider. And baking time should be about the same, slightly less like you said. When you see it coming off the sides of the pan, and a toothpick is coming out clean, it’s time to turn the oven off.

  23. Hello. I love this recipe, ive had great success with choco! But my flan always falls in the middle. I added a diff cake recipe (strawberry cake) and i was afraid to overcook the cake bc the recipe said 35 mins… but i did it for 45 and was afraid to overcook the cake. Will the cake overcook if i let it cook for 1 hour like in your recipe?

    1. The cake might be slightly denser, make sure to cover the pan with foil at the end stages of baking, to avoid burning the cake. But it should be fine, just won’t be as fluffy as if you baked less time.

        1. when I covered in the beginning before, the foil stuck to the cake when the cake started to rise. So i wait for the cake to set on the outside (but not fully bake on the inside) to place the foil on top. If your pan is very tall and has a lot of room, then go for it!

          1. I see, hopefully the foil with slow down the cooking of the cake. Thank you so much! thank you for this great recipe, ive made your chocoflan 3 times already and everyone loved it!!

  24. Hi Camila,

    Thank you for sharing this great recipe. I made 4 days ago for the first time and it came out so perfectly. My husband, who doesn’t like eating dessert, has surprisingly enjoyed this cake. He always asked for a slice after our dinner. We shared some slices to his parents too. I was just planning to post my comment and photo. However, today, I tried making it again but I was so disappointed as the chocolate cake came out really dry. What do you think I did wrong this time, Camila?

    I appreciate all your useful tips and would really appreciate if could help me identify what caused the cake to be so dry?

    Thank you again, and hoping to hear from you soon, Camila. All the best!

    1. Hello! What could have happened is:
      -over mixing the batter once adding the flour
      -maybe over measuring the flour and adding too much dry ingredients
      -or maybe over baking the cake.

      Sorry about that, hope it works out better next time!

  25. Hii! Thanks for the recipe! Making it today 🙂
    What can i use instead of vegetable shortening to grease the pan?

    Thanks !

  26. 5 stars
    I just made this, yesterday actually, but I finally tasted it today. It’s delicious! 😍 I was a little scared while baking because the bottom had a very light flan-color that I realized quickly after testing for doneness, was only a thin layer of custard that stayed on the chocolate cake part. Then when I unmolded it, I was worried because the whole thing was sort of all brown, not color-blocked like yours. Upon cutting it, I then saw that it was perfect inside, 2 separate layers. I will definitely be making it again, and again. Thank you for the recipe!❤

  27. 4 stars
    Wow- I really didn’t think that this was going to work, but it did! Magic indeed. I’m not sure if it was me or what, but making the caramel took AGES. Probably 45 minutes or so, and it was really annoying to stand there stirring the entire time. Was I supposed to have the heat hotter to melt the sugar? The rest of the recipe was actually really simple, and everything worked perfectly. I wasn’t sure how long to leave my bundt pan in the hot water bath when I wanted to remove it, so I ended up for maybe 40 minutes and it was probably too long. The caramel was a bit melted, but that didn’t matter. This was a major hit, and everyone has absolutely loved it!

    1. it’s really not supposed to take that long to make the caramel, just a few minutes, not sure what happened there. I am happy the overall result was good! Thanks

  28. 5 stars
    This recipe was much easier than I had anticipated….although I haven’t turned it out from the pan yet.

    I was wondering what the absolute minimum time is to leave it in the refrigerator before turning it out. Is it the 6 hours you list or can it be any less? Asking because we’re too impatient to wait to try it!

    1. I understand your excitement lol I am excited for you! It’s best to wait though! sorry 😅 and dont forget to place the pan in a bowl of warm water to loosen up the caramel from the bottom of the pan.

  29. I just remembered the foil with only 20 minutes left to bake. All that work and I forgot that one step. 😞

    1. It’s still fine, wish I saw this earlier, it would still be fine, perhaps it would be a bit overbaked on the cake part but still will be ok.

      1. 5 stars
        It wasn’t perfect in looks, but it was fabulous in taste! I’m definitely going to try again. I used a silicone Bundt pan and it seemed underdone, and fell apart a bit. Do you think a metal pan would make it better?!

  30. Hi Camilla..we have chatted on a FB vegan macaron group before where you helped me to troubleshoot…thanks for that!
    I tried this recipe and while it’s come out well, I had a few issues and would love your insights on it
    1. My layers were not so clean looking, that is some of the cake batter mixed with the flan layer when baked and hence could be seen as leapord spots.
    2. The caramel layer did not unmould fully . I think overall I may have overbaked the flan as the custard layer too was not jiggly but very firm.
    3. I found overall the eggy tasty to be a bit overpowering. Can I try the queso de flan recipe instead of a normal caramel custard?. I find the cream cheese and evaporated milk better at masking the eggy taste. Will the addition of this make the flan layer too heavy? As in it won’t have any issues in sinking and beneath the cake layer upon baking?

    Would appreciate your feedback and opinions… thanks so much ! I love your macaron recipes and tried a few of them

    1. A lot of the caramel will be left in the pan yes, you can heat up the pan after unmolding and then pour the caramel over the flan.
      About the layers not being clean looking could be the type of pan you used, how well you greased it, how neatly you poured the liquid in. And I dont know about the queso de flan I havent tried with this recipe!!
      Thank you so much!

  31. Hi Camila
    I have a pan that is 10 inch in diameter and is only 2inch in height. It also has a 4.5 in hole in the middle. Not sure what kind of a pan it is though but its not bundt. Can I still fit your recipe in this size? Eager to make this for a Mexican themed dinner party…

  32. Hi Camila,
    I was wondering does this work if i use chocolate brigaderao instead of flan? Im looking for chocolatey chocolate 😊

  33. Hi Camila,
    Happy holidays! Thank you for posting this amazing recipe. I am planning to make it for new year’s eve. However I have a rookie question , I ‘ve read the recipe a couple of times but still unable to figure it out. I wanted to understand if we are putting the cake batter in the pan first wouldnt the caramel get mixed with it and then how do we get that brilliant caramel glaze on the flan, should we save some caramel and glaze the flan later? If i am picturing this correctly once we take out the cake, do we have to flip it back to get the flan layer on top and then glaze it ?

    1. If you want you can place the pan in the fridge until the caramel hardens up before putting the rest of the batter in, however the caramel will go to the bottom anyway as the flan bakes in the oven

  34. 5 stars
    Best and most impressive cake ever.! It didn’t want to come out of the pan for me in the beginning. I left it sitting on my cake plate upside down for about 10 min and the weight of it finally brought it out. It looked great and tasted even better. I like to serve most of my cake with a small pitcher of baileys or other liquor to pour onto the slice on the side for those who want it. It was incredible!

  35. 5 stars
    Hello Camila- I made this for my parents 50th wedding anniversary. Your instructions were perfect and it came out perfectly. It was enjoyed by all despite there being tough competition on the dessert table! Thanks, Fiona

  36. looks Delish. I haven’t made it…yet. but I plan to, with the dulce de leche cake.
    In the US we have both condensed milk and SWEETENED condensed milk. I did find someone ask for clarification – it’s a very important distinction and a pet peeve on online recipes missing steps or key ingredients. I tend to not trust most bloggers recipes due to the lack of proofing and editing to ensure all ingredients and steps are included… just saying. I’ve had some successes, but more failures – a little jaded, can you tell? BTW, sweetened condensed milk – isn’t that a desert all on its own? LOL
    That being said I have made flan several times and the carmelized sugar is always problematic – I haven’t seen a recipe to add water to it after it carmelizes – that seems to be a valid tip. Someone asked about that…I didn’t see a response.

  37. Hey camilla!
    I’m looking to make this cake for my grandfather’s birthday with a couple alterations to accommodate his health issues. I was wondering if there was a way I could have less of a cake layer and more flan? Like an inch or so worth of cake and the rest is flan? Is that possible? And do I need to have caramel or can I omit it?
    Thanks!

    1. you can definitely halve the cake recipe and make it that way and see how it works. And also you can omit the caramel but it wont be quite the same. do make sure to grease the pan super well if you dont add the caramel

  38. 5 stars
    Made this as written, and it came out great! Used a roasting pan for the water bath. Had to cook it 1 hr and forty-minutes for the toothpick to come out clean, and had to boil the water on the stove to get the cake out. The cake was cooked through, held its shape including the Bundt pan ridges, and looked gorgeous! The flavor is fantastic!

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