It’s that time again… DENVER RESTAURANT WEEK. Restaurant week is a full week where diners can go out to participating restaurants and eat a three-course gourmet meal for 35 bucks. Think of it like black Friday for foodies. Restaurants book up solid for the entire time, so chefs are working around the clock, basically. It’s usually a whirlwind week and by then end we’re always so pumped with adrenaline at that point that it’s ALMOST disappointing that we’re able to go home.
I seriously can’t believe it’s been a full year since the last one. So much anxiety as this week approaches. I’ll be making desserts for 2 restaurants participating in restaurant week this year. Along with daily nightmares that I won’t have everything ready, the restaurant will go down in flames, etc. You know, the usual stuff.
AAAAAAAAAnyway. This week I have a great recipe to share! If you’re into baking because of the cool science aspect of it, this dessert is for you. It’s called choco flan, but also has been called magic flan or the impossible cake. First you layer a bundt pan with caramel, then a cake batter, then a flan batter. During the baking process, the flan and cake batter switch places due to the density of the flan vs. the cake batter. So, you put it into the oven one way, it comes out inverted. WHAT? So cool. Well, I thought so anyway. Not to mention the absolutely mind-blowing flavor combination of flan, chocolate and caramel. You might need a glass of milk for this one.
ChocoFlan
Caramel Sauce ¼ cup (2 oz.)
For the Cake:
Butter, room temp 10 T (5 oz.)
Sugar 1 cup
Egg 1
Flour 1 ¾ cup
Baking powder ¾ tsp
Baking soda ¾ tsp
Cocoa powder 1/3 cup
Buttermilk 1 ¼ cup (10 oz.)
For the Flan:
Evaporated milk 1 can (12 oz.)
Sweetened condensed milk 1 can (14 oz.)
Cream cheese, room temp ½ cup (4 oz.)
Eggs 3
Vanilla 1 tsp
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C).
Spray a bundt pan with some baking spray, then coat the bottom of the bundt pan with the caramel sauce.
For the cake:
In a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, mix butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Next add the egg. In a separate bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together, then alternately add dry ingredients and buttermilk to cake batter until fully incorporated.
Pour cake batter into bundt pan directly over the caramel sauce.
For the flan:
Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend for 30 seconds.
Pour flan base over cake batter in the bundt pan.
Cover bundt pan with foil, then place in a roasting pan with 1 inch of hot water inside. If you do not have a roasting pan, you can just place another pan with water inside the oven along with the bundt pan to create steam.
Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
When fully baked, remove from water bath and let it cool in the bundt pan for 1 hour.
To invert, place a serving platter over the bundt pan and flip over. It should jiggle a little then come out clean.
Feel free to garnish with some more caramel sauce!
Enjoy!
ChocoFlan
Chocolate cake and flan custard made in a bundt pan!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup prepared caramel sauce
Cake
- 10 Tbsp butter, soft
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 3/4 cup flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/4 cup buttermilk
Flan
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/4 cup cream cheese, soft
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C).
- Spray a bundt pan with some baking spray, then coat the bottom of the bundt pan with the caramel sauce.
- For the cake:
- In a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, mix butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Next add the egg. In a separate bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together, then alternately add dry ingredients and buttermilk to cake batter until fully incorporated.
- Pour cake batter into bundt pan directly over the caramel sauce.
- For the flan:
- Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend for 30 seconds.
- Pour flan base over cake batter in the bundt pan.
- Cover bundt pan with foil, then place in a roasting pan with 1 inch of hot water inside. If you do not have a roasting pan, you can just place another pan with water inside the oven along with the bundt pan to create steam.
- Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
When fully baked, remove from water bath and let it cool in the bundt pan for 1 hour.To invert, place a serving platter over the bundt pan and flip over. It should jiggle a little then come out clean.- Feel free to garnish with some more caramel sauce!
