Chocoflan- Pastel Imposible

Chocoflan is a Mexican dessert that combines chocolate cake and flan. It is also referred to as ‘Impossible Cake’, because the layers reverse during the baking process.

Chocoflan is a great dessert to make for a party or get-together. It looks fancy, but we’re making this easy with a box cake mix and a 4 ingredient flan mixture.

If you want to make the extra effort you can do a homemade chocolate cake instead. But I’ve made this recipe with both a box mix and a homemade cake, and honestly, I prefer the cake mix since it was moist and has more chocolate flavor.

What Does Pastel Imposible Mean?

Pastel Imposible translates to ‘Impossible Cake’. This name comes from the magical process of the cake reversing layers during the baking process.

The chocolate cake batter is layered first then the flan mixture is poured on top. During the baking process, the flan mixture sinks to the bottom and the cake mixture rises to the top. And somehow the cajeta stays on the bottom. It’s a really cool process when you think about it, and it just makes this dessert that much more fun!

Since the cake needs to be inverted onto a platter, make sure the Bundt Pan is greased really well with butter. This will ensure it comes out clean!

Ingredients for Chocoflan

Cajeta is a dulce de leche or caramel sauce made from goats milk. Most stores will carry cajeta or you can use a regular caramel sauce.

For the Chocolate Cake Mix, I used chocolate fudge cake, and made it according to the package directions. The only substitution I made is milk for the water. I feel like this makes the cake taste richer.

For the flan mixture, we’re using 4 ingredients: evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, and half a block of cream cheese to a blender. If you prefer to have more of a vanilla flavor, add 1 tablespoon of vanilla before blending.

Try this Fall version of a Tres Leches Cake– Pumpkin Tres Leches.

How to bake it in a water bath

Similar to my Jericalla recipe, the chocoflan is bake in a water bath. Boil water and pour it into a large roasting pan. The pan needs to be big enough to fit the bundt pan.

Baking the chocoflan in a water bath ensures the cake and flan cook evenly without cracking or getting overcooked on the edges. After 1 hour of baking, remove the pan and check the cake. If it’s still jiggly, then remove the foil and place the bundt pan back into the water bath in the oven.

Check every 10 to 15 minutes. I ended up baking it for an extra 25 minutes. Once a toothpick comes out clean, remove the cake from the water bath and allow it to cool on a baking sheet for at least 1 hour.

Serving the Chocoflan

After the chocoflan cools for an hour on a baking rack, the fun part comes! Use a large serving platter, cutting board, or cake stand to invert the cake onto the platter. You may need to tap on the top and give the bundt pan a little jiggle for it to come out.

While the layer’s don’t look very distinguished on the outside of the cake, once you slice into it, you’ll see the 2 layers. The chocoflan can be served after it cools, or you can keep it refrigerated until you are ready to serve it.

Serve with extra cajeta, whipped cream, or fresh berries if you like. If there are leftovers, they can be refrigerated up to 5 days and served cold. Chocoflan is such a delicious dessert, I enjoy it with a nice cup of coffee.

More Mexican Desserts