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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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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
Ingredients
Caramel
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200 grams
- 1/2 cup water room temperature (113 grams)
Chocolate Cake
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 191 grams
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 60 grams
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature (170 grams)
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200 grams
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk 113 grams
Flan
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup heavy cream 113 grams
- 1 condensed milk can 396 grams
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour 15 grams
Instructions
- Grease a 10 or 12 cup bundt pan generously with vegetable shortening or butter, then coat it with granulated sugar. Tap out the excess. Set it aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Caramel
- Place the granulated sugar in a small, heavy-bottom saucepan and set it over medium heat. Stir constantly with a heat-resistant spatula as the sugar begins to melt. Continue stirring until all the sugar has dissolved and the mixture becomes fluid and lightly amber in color, with no remaining granules.
- Remove the pan from the heat (or shut it off). Carefully and slowly pour the water into the melted sugar—it will bubble and steam vigorously, so keep your hands and face back. Once the bubbling settles, return the pan to the stove over medium heat and stir continuously until the hardened sugar dissolves back into the water and you have a thin, smooth caramel.
- Cook just until the crystallized sugar remelts. Remove from the heat and let it cool while you make the chocolate cake batter and the flan.
Chocolate Cake
- Pre-heat oven to 350F.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- With a mixer, beat the butter for one minute. Add the granulated sugar and continue beating until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, about 3 more minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract.
- Pour in the milk and mix just until combined. Add the sifted dry ingredients and fold them in with a spatula until the batter is smooth and no streaks of flour remain. Avoid over mixing so the cake stays tender.
- Set aside while you prepare the flan batter.
Flan
- Crack the eggs and pour them in a large bowl through a fine-mesh sieve to strain out any chalazae (the rope-like membrane part) or thicker bits. This ensures the flan stays perfectly smooth and prevents tiny cooked egg specks from appearing in the final texture.
- Add the condensed milk and flour to the strained eggs. Whisk to combine before adding the heavy cream and vanilla. This can ensure the flour won't be lumpy.
- Add the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and flour to the bowl. Whisk gently but thoroughly until the mixture is smooth and thin.
To assemble
- Pour the cooled caramel into the bottom of the prepared bundt pan.
- When pouring the chocolate cake batter into the bundt pan, use a cookie scoop or large spoon to transfer it gently and keep it centered. Try not to smear the batter up the sides of the pan—any chocolate smudges on the walls can keep the flan from coming out in an even, clean layer and may cause uneven lines when you unmold the chocoflan.
- Slowly pour the flan batter over the chocolate layer. As the cake bakes, the flan will sink and the chocolate cake will rise. This natural shift is what creates the classic “magic” separation of chocoflan.
- Bake the chocoflan uncovered, directly on the oven rack, for 35–40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake portion comes out clean. The center should look slightly set but still soft.
- Let the cake cool to room temperature in the pan. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight, so the flan can fully firm up and the caramel can dissolve into a pourable sauce.
To unmold
- To unmold, fill a larger pan with hot water and set the bundt pan in it for 2–3 minutes to loosen the caramel. Place a serving plate on top of the bundt pan, then invert to release the chocoflan.
Storage
- Store it in the fridge, covered, for up to 4 days.
Notes
Baking the assembled chocoflan freestanding for 35–40 minutes keeps the flan silky while preventing the chocolate cake from over baking. I tried both methods while remaking this recipe and the freestanding method was much better. If you prefer, you can use a water bath. You’ll just have to bake for almost double the time. Unmolding tip:
Do not skip warming the pan briefly in hot water before flipping. This ensures the caramel is fluid enough to release the cake cleanly.
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.
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.
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.
I made the caramel and it got really hard when it cooled. I am finishing the cake tonight. Is it normal for the caramel to be that hard at room temperature?
It shouldn’t be hard like hard candy. If that happened, it was overcooked. Heat it up in the microwave gently and see if it softens.
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.
Ohhh exciting! Let me know Lisa!!! Thank you!!
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.
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.
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!
Can I halve this recipe? I only have the 6 cup bundt pan.
Sure thing!
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.
It might turn out great!! Don’t lose hope! Let me know how it goes, Shawna! 🙂 thanks for writing!
That’s great to hear, thank you for your swift reply! I will let you know how it turns out!
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
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!!!
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
I believe that would work just fine 🙂
I am brasilian and made already this cake many times. It is always chosen by my daughters in especial ocasions.. Good tip.
Thank you so much!! I love this cake too!! Meu preferido! So yummy!! Obrigada, Mara!!! 🙂
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!
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.
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. 😢
This looks lovely! I have a recipe I got from a friend more than 25 years back and been using it since then and shared it over my page: https://www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/26264/odret-aader-means-by-godand39s-will
But would definitely want to try your recipe.. and as Jamie said, coffee would be an amazing addition!
Thanks for sharing dear
I made this last night in this bundt pan https://www.williams-sonoma.com/m/products/heritage-bundt-cake-pan/?cm_cat=Google&sku=5519244&catalogId=60&cm_ite=5519244&gclid=CjwKCAiAv9riBRANEiwA9Dqv1eKPJ5JFlaf32d6MZwOnTOgqz85WsuKNLcnk5Z41UQizjmh2JusQkxoCStMQAvD_BwE&cm_ven=PLA&cm_pla=Bakeware%20%3e%20Cake%20Pans%20%3e%20Bundt(R)%20Cake%20Pans and it came out great. Beautiful and delicious. I also substituted a combo of coffee and kahlua instead of the cup of milk and the flavor was amazing!!
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!!
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!
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!!
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!
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?
I usually eat it straight from the fridge. It’s supposed to be firm but not suuuper firm. At room temperature will become a bit softer.
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!
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!
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
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.
Thank you for your answer. I will play around with it and see what happens.
Yes!! let me know if you do please!! Id love to hear!!
Thank you!
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
You can plate it one to two days before. Keep it covered in the fridge.
Silly question,,,when you say condensed milk for the flan, is that sweetened condensed milk?
Yes sweetened condensed milk
its look so yummy… now im baking this recipe.. wish its turn as good as yours.. thanks alot for your posting..
Ohhh!! That’s so exciting! Let me know how it turned out!! Thank you so much!!
woooww its turned perfect dear! thank you so much.. gonna make it another time..😍😍
Thank you so much!! I appreciate it. Your cake turned out beautiful, thanks for sharing the pic on instagram!! 🙂
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.
Thank you so much Patrick! This cake is quite magical! I agree! 🙂
Camila – what size bundt pan did you use for this magic cake. I want to make it next weekend for a party. Thanks
It’s a 10 cup bundt pan
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!
Thank you so much!!!! That makes me so happy to hear!
Wow this recipe is definitely a keeper!
I wanted to post a picture but you can’t ugh
im so glad to hear!!!