Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I hope you get to spend time with your friends and family. I am doing a bit of recipe testing this week and I decided to start it off with a sweet sweet bang. It is a feast day today, so it only seemed appropriate! Chocoflan is a sort of “magic” dessert. I say this because you start by putting the chocolate cake better on the bottom, followed by the flan batter, and while it cooks- they switch places. Pretty cool!
This recipe is one that I have changed over time. I found a recipe many years ago that I saw on Food Network. I tried it and while I looooved the flan portion of it, I was not too crazy about the chocolate cake recipe. I hope you love this one! My tip: make this at night and let it cool in the fridge until morning. It will be that much better!
Chocoflan
You will need:
- For the cake:
- 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
- 1 3/4 c AP flour
- 1/2 c cocoa powder
- 1 c sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup buttermilk (or *just under* 1 cup milk + 1 Tbsp white vinegar)
- you can also use sour cream or Greek yogurt here instead.
- 2 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup strong coffee (or 2 tsp instant espresso powder + 1/2 c water)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- For the flan:
- 1 12oz can evaporated milk
- 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 4oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 eggs
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- caramel sauce or Cajeta
- chopped pecans (totally optional)
Preheat your oven to 350*F. Prepare a 10-12 cup capacity bundt pan by placing it inside of a roasting pan. Spray the bundt pan with nonstick spray, or coat it with butter. Drizzle a bit of caramel sauce into the bottom.
For the cake, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy using a hand or stand mixer (about 2 minutes). Add in the egg, vanilla, buttermilk, oil, and coffee. Mix until combined. Add in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute. Pour the batter into the bundt pan and smooth it out.
For the flan, combine all of the ingredients in to a blender. Blend until smooth. Gently pour over the cake batter. It’s okay if they mix a little- they will separate when baking.
Cover the bundt pan with foil. Pour 1 inch of boiling water into the roasting pan. Carefully put the roasting pain in the oven. Bake for 1h 15m until a toothpick comes out clean, or with moist crumb only, when inserted into the chocolate cake.
Remove the bundt pan from the roasting pan and let it cool for 1 hour at room temp. Once it is cool enough to handle, give it a light jiggle and carefully invert it on a large plate or round serving platter. Put it in the fridge to cool overnight. It will firm up nicely and be that much better the next day.
When you are ready to serve, slice it and drizzle more caramel sauce over it. If you like, add a generous sprinkling of chopped pecans to it.
This dessert is ALWAYS a hit wherever I take it. You can also pre-slice and garnish it for parties or gatherings.
I hope you love this recipe.
Lots of love and many blessings,
Chelsea
St. Patrick’s Lorica
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth with His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.
I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In the predictions of prophets,
In the preaching of apostles,
In the faith of confessors,
In the innocence of holy virgins,
In the deeds of righteous men.
I arise today, through
The strength of heaven,
The light of the sun,
The radiance of the moon,
The splendor of fire,
The speed of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of the sea,
The stability of the earth,
The firmness of rock.
I arise today, through
God’s strength to pilot me,
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptation of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
afar and near.
I summon today
All these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel and merciless power
that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul;
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me an abundance of reward.
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.
The Catholic Kitchen 