Chocoflan

My mom first introduced me to flan when I was 10 years old. At the time all I could compare it to was really, really good pudding. 21 years later I finally made flan for the first time, but with a cool twist. Flan on top of chocolate cake. Chocoflan, the best of both worlds. I saw this awesome cake on Food Network. Where else right? lol


Ingredients
12-cup capacity Bundt panSoftened butter, to coat pan1/4 cup cajeta or caramel sauce For the cake: 10 tablespoons butter, room temperature1 cup sugar1 egg, room temperature1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour3/4 teaspoon baking powder3/4 teaspoon baking soda1/3 cup cocoa powder1 1/4 cups buttermilk For the flan: 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature3 eggs1 tablespoon vanilla extract For garnish: 1/4 cup cajeta or caramel sauce1/4 cup chopped pecans
Directions

Put an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Coat a Bundt pan with a little butter, then coat the bottom with 1/4 cup cajeta and put it in a large roasting pan. (The roasting pan will serve as a water bath during baking.)

For the cake: Add the butter and sugar to a bowl and using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, beat until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa in a medium bowl. Beat 1/3 of the flour mixture, and 1/2 of the buttermilk into the egg mixture. Repeat, ending with the flour mixture. Blend until well incorporated.

For the flan: In a blender, combine the evaporated milk, condensed milk, cream cheese, eggs and vanilla. Blend on high for 30 seconds.

Scoop the cake batter into the prepared Bundt pan and spreading evenly. Slowly pour the flan mixture over the cake batter. Cover with foil and add about 1-inch of hot water to the roasting pan.

Carefully slide the pan into the oven, and bake 1 hour, until the surface of the cake is firm to the touch, or an inserted toothpick comes out clean. When cake is done, remove from the water bath and cool completely to room temperature, about 1 hour.

Invert a large, rimmed serving platter over the Bundt pan, grasp tightly together, jiggle a little and flip over. Remove the pan and scrape any remaining cajeta from the pan onto the cake, garnish with chopped pecans and serve!

Another really cool thing about this cake is that when you pour the flan on top of the batter, it looks like the two are starting to mix, but they completely separate while baking. I topped mine with chopped almonds instead of pecans. My boy is not a fan of pecans. I don't really know what's wrong with him sometimes.

The recipe calls for cajeta. Cajeta is a thick and creamy spread or paste made with caramelized sugar and milk. I couldn't find any. I used Hershey's Syrup Caramel Dulce de Leche from a squeeze bottle instead. Works great. Afterward, you can mix a couple of tablespoons into a glass of milk and go into sugar overload. That's always fun too.