Quick Summary: Chocoflan is a Mexican layered dessert where chocolate cake and flan switch places during baking. The “impossible” name refers to this magic. Common failures include runny texture (not cooling long enough) and sticking (not greasing the pan enough). Use a 10-cup bundt pan and cool at least 4 hours before flipping. Prep: 45 min | Cook: 70 min | Cool: 4+ hours | Serves: 20
Jump to: | RECIPE | Why is it Called Impossible Cake | Ingredients | Step by Step | Tips for Success | FAQ
I failed at this cake twice before getting it right. The first attempt ended with a syrupy pudding that ran all over the counters at a fiesta party (thank goodness it was family only). The second failure wasn’t as dramatic, but it wasn’t until the third time making this that I found perfection.
Chocoflan is a Mexican dessert where a chocolate cake layer and a flan layer magically switch places during baking. The cake rises through the denser flan, and when you flip it out of the pan, you get three distinct layers: caramel on top, creamy flan in the middle, chocolate cake on the bottom.
This recipe includes everything I learned from my failures so you get it right the first time.
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Why is it Called Impossible Cake?
This Mexican dessert is known by several different names…Flan Impossible, Impossible Chocolate Flan, el Pastel Imposible, and Chocoflan. The word “impossible” refers to the seemingly magical way the chocolate cake layer switches places with the flan layer as it bakes (hint: it’s about density).
This layered dessert goes in the oven with the flan layer on top of the cake layer, but after baking, the layers magically switch places. The cake layer puffs up while baking and rises right through the heavier flan mixture that sinks to the bottom.
Once you flip it onto a plate, the creamy flan sits on top of the chocolate cake, with a light layer of caramel on the very top. A stunning presentation and a delicious layered cake!
What Ingredients Do You Need?
The easiest substitution for a Mexican chocoflan is to use a boxed cake mix for the chocolate cake layer. My recipe makes the cake from scratch, mostly because I wanted to make sure and have a dense cake batter rather than a light fluffy chocolate cake. It seems to hold up better to the flan.
A few other substitutions could include:
- using buttermilk instead of the butter and oranges (make sure and use a tested recipe for this however, like this one from Saveur)
- some cooks do not use salt
- regular granulated sugar is fine – you don’t need fine sugar
- use cajeta (a goats milk caramel) instead of dulce de leche
- add a little cinnamon
- use store-bought caramel topping rather than dulce de leche
- add some instant coffee to the cake batter
- exchange the vanilla with your favorite extract for baking (almond is a good one)
Here are the ingredients I used in the recipe below, which came out perfect:
Step by Step: How to Make Chocoflan
Here are the illustrated step by step directions. For the details, check out the recipe card below.
What Mistakes Should You Avoid?
The first time I made this was with my daughter and it was a disaster that we got a lot of laughs about! We spent all day putting it together, took it to a fiesta party and when we lifted the bundt pan off the “cake” was a syrupy pudding that ran all over the counters!
Not to be deterred however, we made it again a month later and this time it was perfection. Here are some of the mistakes we made….too bad we didn’t get a photo as it was an amazing fail. The picture above is an approximation of how runny the failed chocoflan was!
Mistakes that led to a runny cake:
- We made a very light cake with not as much flour as most recipes called for. The cake did not puff up as much as it needed to and was not dense enough to pair well with the flan
- Probably the main thing we did wrong was we didn’t let it cool long enough. It really needs to solidify and cool for at least 4 hours.
- We didn’t coat the bundt pan enough with spray and the “flip” therefore didn’t work well. Some cooks will say that using butter to grease the bundt pan works better. Cooking spray worked fine for us on the successful attempt.
Other common fails
- This recipe requires a 10-cup capacity bundt pan. Too large of a pan will make thin layers. You can use a 10-inch round cake pan, but it is not as stunning of a presentation.
- The density of cajeta and the flan is much higher than most chocolate cake recipes. For that reason, the cake mixture you choose is important. A really dense cake will not be able to rise through the flan layer
**Tip: the dulce de leche layer often comes out unevenly on top. Have more on hand for drizzling.
Mexican Celebration Recipes
There are sooo many Mexican celebrations, accompanied by great (and sometimes specific) celebration foods. Here are a few of my favorites, with a full catalog of Mexican recipes here.
- Celebration food for the Day of the Dead
- Mexican chocolate pots
- Low carb orange flan
- Chicken Pipian Mole
- Mexican beer cocktail
- Mexican Ponche Navideño: Christmas Punch
- Mexican Street Food (fruit cups with tajin)
FAQ
It will last covered in the refrigerator for 3 days until you’re ready to serve. If you kept it in the bundt pan, bring to room temperature before flipping or inverting it onto the serving plate.
Two likely causes: the cake batter was too light and airy (it needs to be dense to rise through the flan), or you didn’t cool it long enough. Cool at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
Not enough grease. Coat every surface of the bundt pan generously with cooking spray or softened butter, including the center tube and all the crevices.
Yes, but choose a dense cake recipe, not a light fluffy one. The cake needs enough structure to rise through the heavier flan layer.
Dulce de leche is made from cow’s milk; cajeta is made from goat’s milk. Both work. Cajeta has a slightly tangier flavor.
Up to 3 days. Keep it in the bundt pan in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature before flipping and serving.
A 10-cup bundt pan. Too large and the layers will be thin. A 10-inch round cake pan works but isn’t as dramatic for presentation.
It is not necessary to use buttermilk. I chose not to use buttermilk as it is something I rarely have on hand.
Impossible Chocoflan
Equipment
- bundt pan 10-cup
- Bowl
Ingredients
CARAMEL
- 1 cup dulce de leche
CAKE
- 1 cup 2 sticks of butter room temperature
- 1 cup Sugar fine or extra fine
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 Tablespoon orange zest
- ⅛ cup orange juice or clementines or tangerines
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon orange flower water
FLAN
- 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 11 ounce can evaporated milk
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon salt
GARNISH
- ⅓ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- Caramel topping or more dulce de leche optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Generously grease the bottom, sides and center of a 10 cup Bundt pan. I used cooking spray but you can use softened butter also.Spread the dulce de leche (or cajeta) over the bottom of the pan. You can heat it up slightly in the microwave so it is easier to spread. Spread it over the entire bottom and a little up the sides. Set aside.1 cup dulce de leche
- Cut the softened butter into large pieces and add them, along with the sugar, to a stand mixer. Blend the butter with sugar until it’s light and fluffy, almost white. Whisk in eggs, one at time until well incorporated.1 cup 2 sticks of butter, 1 cup Sugar, 4 eggs
- In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and cocoa. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and slowly whisk in the zest, orange juice, vanilla and orange blossom water and mix until well combined.2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 4 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 Tablespoon orange zest, 1/8 cup orange juice, 1 teaspoon orange flower water
- Pour cake batter into Bundt pan on top of cajeta or dulce de leche.
- Make the flan: In a blender, add all ingredients and blend well. Pour flan batter very gently and carefully over the cake batter layer.14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk, 11 ounce can evaporated milk, 3 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Cover the bundt pan “loosely” with foil and place in a large baking dish. Fill the baking dish with hot water (simmering) so that it comes halfway up the sides of the bundt pan.Bake for about 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.
- Allow cake to cool for at least 4 hours or refrigerate overnight. When you are ready to serve run a warm knife around edges of Bundt pan (including the center hole portion) and invert a large rimmed serving dish over Bundt pan. Carefully but rapidly flip the bundt pan over. Sprinkle with chopped nuts and serve alongside additional dulce de leche.
- Note: Store leftovers in fridge for up to 3 days.
Dorothy Stainbrook says: 
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