Chocoflan (Impossible Cake)

Sliced chocoflan on a plate showing the chocolate cake and flan custard layers

Prep25 min

Cook1 hr

Total1 hr 25 min

Chill4+ hrs

Servings10 servings

DifficultyIntermediate

Chocoflan earns its nickname — the impossible cake — from what happens inside the pan while it bakes. You pour caramel, then chocolate cake batter, then flan custard into the mold in that order, but the custard is denser than the cake batter, so as everything bakes the two layers swap places: the flan settles toward the bottom and the cake rises to the top. Once it's chilled and turned out onto a plate, you get a clean cross-section of both desserts in a single ring-shaped cake, caramel cascading down the sides. It's traditionally baked in a tube-style pan, which makes a ring cake mold a natural fit — the same even, gentle heat that works for a solid flan works here too.

Ingredients

For the caramel

1/2 cup sugar (or 1/2 cup store-bought cajeta or dulce de leche)

For the chocolate cake layer

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup hot water or hot coffee
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the flan layer

4 large eggs
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease the ring cake mold.
Melt the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until it turns a light amber caramel. Pour it into the bottom of the mold and swirl to coat evenly (or spread cajeta or dulce de leche evenly instead). Let it cool slightly.
Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Add the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth. Stir in the hot water or coffee last.
Pour the chocolate cake batter over the cooled caramel in the mold.
Blend the 4 eggs, condensed milk, evaporated milk, and vanilla until completely smooth.
Pour the flan mixture slowly over the back of a large spoon directly on top of the cake batter, so it doesn't mix into the layer below.
Cover the mold tightly with foil (or its lid, if it has one).
Place the mold inside a larger roasting pan and add hot water until it reaches about halfway up the sides.
Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake layer comes out clean and the custard is set.
Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
Run a knife around the edges and the center tube, place a serving plate over the mold, and invert. The caramel and flan layer end up on top with the chocolate cake as the base.

A foil-covered ring cake mold sitting in a roasting pan of hot water, ready for the oven — Covered and set into the water bath, ready for the oven — step 7–8.

Notes & Tips

Pour the flan layer slowly over a spoon so it doesn't tear through the cake batter beneath it — that gentle pour is what keeps the two layers distinct instead of swirling together. This recipe was written for a ring cake mold, but it uses the same water-bath principle as a traditional flan mold; if you already own a lidded flanera, it will also work here.

Find the Right Globe Rocket Ring Cake Mold

Chocoflan's two stacked layers take up more room than a single-layer flan, so a larger pan gives you more headroom in the water bath. Here's how the three Globe Rocket sizes compare.