Chocolate Flan Cake

Hi Baking Buddies– This is a cake I saw scroll by on someone’s blog and thought, “that would be fun to try!”  And just a week or so later, one of the sweet baking mom’s from school brought in a huge version of this very cake to treat the staff–  It was crazy delicious!

So I tracked down the recipe and thought, “Hmmm, this looks a little complicated.”  But I read a long list of reviews of people who had made this cake and they literally all said it came out perfectly.  So I gave it a try and they were right!

It’s MAGIC the way the flan layer sinks down and the cake layer rises up to the top while the cake is baking and it al comes out so tender and moist!  Have I already gone on too too long about this cake?  Well, I do wish you’d try it–it’s so good!

CHOCOLATE FLAN CAKE
1 dark chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs
1 cup water
1/2 cup caramel sauce*
4 oz. cream cheese
12 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
14 oz. can evaporated milk
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Spray a 15 cup bundt pan or a deep 9″x13″ baking dish with cooking spray.  The pour in the caramel sauce and tip the pan/dish to coat the bottom with caramel.

Make the chocolate cake mix according to the directions on the box (mine used 1/2 cup oil, eggs and 1 cup of water).  Pour the batter evenly over the caramel.

Use a blender** to combine the cream cheese, condensed milk, evaporated milk, eggs and vanilla.  Pour the mixture slowly and evenly over the cake layer in the pan, careful not to mix the two layers.

Coat a piece of foil with cooking spray and cover the pan, spray side down, tightly with the foil.  Put your baking dish (or bundt pan) into a roasting pan*** and pour water into the roasting pan to surround your baking dish up about 2 inches.

Bake it all up at 350 degrees for 1 3/4  to 2 hours! (this is when the magic happens!)  Test for doneness, if your cake layer on top has crumbs when poked with a toothpick.

Take it out of the oven to rest for 15 minutes and then remove the foil, top the baking dish with a plate and invert it to fall from the pan onto the plate.  Let it cool one hour and then set it in the fridge for bout 4 hours (or over night).

It’s big enough to share with LOTS of friends!  I hope you all love, love it!

*I used Hershey’s caramel sauce– any kind will do or you can your own!
** You do need to use a blender.  I thought the mixer would do, but there were too many cream cheese lumps– I used my trusty rusty stick blender and it worked just fine.
*** I didn’t use an official roasted pan, just a bigger baking dish where I could nestle my 9″x13″ pan inside.