The base of the cake is chocolate. On top, a layer of caramel flan. Impossible to resist.
Course Dessert
Cuisine brazilian
Keyword bundt, cake, caramel, flan
Prep Time 1 hourhour30 minutesminutes
Cook Time 1 hourhour30 minutesminutes
Total Time 3 hourshours
Servings 12people
Calories 320kcal
Ingredients
Caramel
1cupgranulated sugar200 grams, 7 oz
1/2cupwaterroom temperature (113 grams, 4 oz)
Chocolate Cake
1 1/2cupsall-purpose flour191 grams, 6.75 oz
1/2cupunsweetened cocoa powder60 grams, 2.1 oz
3teaspoonsbaking powder
1/4teaspoonfine sea salt
3/4cupunsalted butterroom temperature (170 grams, 6 oz)
1cupgranulated sugar200 grams, 7 oz
3large eggs
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1/2cupmilk113 grams, 4 oz
Flan
4eggs
1/2cupheavy cream113 grams, 4 oz
1condensed milk can396 grams, 14 oz
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
1tablespoonall-purpose flour15 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.