Chocoflan
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Apr 10, 2025 
Chocoflan Impossible Cake – Mexican Chocoflan Cake is a dense, rich chocolate cake stacked with creamy vanilla flan, dripping with a delicate layer of cajeta caramel sauce!
What is Impossible Cake?
Chocoflan is often referred to in media as an “Impossible Cake” because it defies culinary logic by inverting its layers during the baking process.
The pan goes into the oven layered with caramel, then chocolate cake, then flan. Then later comes out of the oven with the chocolate and flan layers reversed. When you take the cake out of the pan, the chocolate cake layer will be on the bottom, even though you cooked it in the middle layer!
This happens because of science, not magic. The flan layer is denser than the cake layer and will drop down and cook in the bottom of the pan while in the oven. Yet it looks and tastes like magic. One bite of our Chocoflan Recipe will leave you believing in the Impossible!
Sommer’s Recipe Notes
Chocoflan – AKA Impossible Cake
Have you always wanted to try Impossible Cake, but never had the nerve? This easy Chocoflan Recipe, aka “Pastel Imposible” is a winner! Mexican Impossible Cake is a dense, rich chocolate cake stacked with creamy vanilla flan, dripping with a delicate layer of cajeta caramel sauce! A Mexican caramel sauce made with goat milk.
This amazing Chocoflan will make you do a double-take. It is a beautiful double-layered cake covered with Cajeta caramel sauce. It is like no other cake I have ever made or enjoyed. Impossible Cake has the look of a cake you slaved over all day.
Contrary to appearances, it is surprisingly fun and easy to make. However, there are specific steps you must attend to, to achieve the desired “magic”, but there is nothing too hard about that. This Chocoflan Cake is such a perfect combination of textures and flavors. It is impossibly addicting, impossibly easy, and very possibly your new favorite dessert!
Chocoflan Recipe Ingredients
For the Flan Layer:
- Sweetened condensed milk – don’t mix it up with evaporated milk
- Evaporated milk – adds a creamy texture
- Cream cheese – softened
- Large eggs – helps bind and adds a firm, creamy texture
- Vanilla extract – Mexican vanilla, if possible
For the Chocolate Cake Batter Layer:
- Unsalted butter – unsoftened
- Granulated sugar – adds sweetness
- Large egg – used to bind and adds structure
- All-purpose flour – provides structure and stability
- Unsweetened cocoa powder – adds deep chocolate flavor
- Ground cinnamon – adds warm flavor
- Baking powder – helps the cake rise
- Baking soda – works with the buttermilk to create additional lift
- Buttermilk – or use a combination of lemon juice or vinegar and milk (use this homemade buttermilk recipe)
For the Pan:
- Softened butter – for greasing
- Cajeta – caramel sauce
Pro Tip: Cajeta is easy to find in most grocery stores. Check the Mexican food section or Mexican market. You can also find it online. If you can’t find it you may substitute Dulce de Leche or another type of caramel sauce.
How To Make Chocoflan
Find the full Chocoflan Impossible Cake recipe with ingredient proportions, detailed instructions, and video tutorial in the printable form at the bottom of the post.
Tips & Tricks
- Use the right size bundt pan! This recipe requires a minimum 12-cup capacity pan. If you use a smaller one, it might come over the edge of the pan!
- Grease the bundt pan well! The cake came out of the pan much better when I buttered it, instead of spraying it with baking spray. Butter is better! Be sure to get into all the nooks and crannies!
- Don’t skip the water bath! The water bath is critical to making this impossible chocoflan come out perfectly. It will help the flan layer to cook properly and the layers to reverse while cooking.
Frequently Asked Questions
It can be a tiny bit wobbly when you take it out of the oven, but not a big wobble, or it might collapse.
Yes, you can make this recipe several days in advance. Cover and chill, in the pan, until the day you plan to serve it. Then set it out at room temperature for 1-2 hours before flipping it out of the pan.
To store, place the leftover chocoflan in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days!
To freeze the chocoflan, tightly wrap the cooled cake in at least two layers of plastic wrap. Freeze for up to 3 months! To serve, thaw in the refrigerator overnight and serve the next day.
Looking for More Delicious Cake Recipes? Be Sure to Try:
- Strawberry Bundt Cake
- Blueberry Muffin Bundt Cake
- Lemon Olive Oil Cake
- Butter Pecan Cake
- Chocolate Pudding Cake
- Strawberry Crunch Cake
- Easy Magic Custard Cake
- Texas Sheet Cake with Coffee
- Homemade Strawberry Cake From Scratch
- Best Buttermilk Lemon Cake
- Best Cream Cheese Pound Cake
- Japanese Castella Cake (Wagashi Sponge Cake)
- Better Than Sex Cake (Retro Recipe)
Chocoflan Impossible Cake
Video
Ingredients
For the Flan Layer:
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 12 ounces evaporated milk
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 3 large eggs
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract, Mexican if possible
For the Chocolate Cake Layer:
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/4 cup buttermilk
For the Pan:
- 2 tablespoons softened butter for greasing
- 1/4 cup cajeta (caramel sauce)
Instructions
- You will need a 12-cup bundt pan and a roasting pan large enough to put the bundt pan inside of and have plenty of room for water. You are creating a Bain Marie or water bath to cook the flan layer.
- Set one oven rack in middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat the bundt pan with butter and drizzle the bottom of the pan with cajeta.
- Boil about 2 quarts of water for the Bain Marie.
- For the Chocolate Cake Layer: With an electric stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Beat in the egg. Sift all dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Then mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, 1/3 at a time, alternating with buttermilk until all ingredients are incorporated.
- For the Flan Layer: Place all the flan ingredients together in a blender and blend on high until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Set the bundt pan inside the roasting pan. Scoop cake batter into the bundt pan on top of the cajeta, smooth it out. Then gently pour the flan mixture over the back of a large spoon into the bundt pan so that it lays on top of the cake batter.
- Lightly butter a piece of foil and cover the bundt pan tightly, butter side down against the cake. Pour boiling water in the roasting pan about two inches high. Gently slide the pan onto the middle oven rack. Bake for 1 hour without opening the oven door. (You need to keep all of the steam inside the oven to do its job.)
- Remove the foil and test the cake. It should be firm to the touch, and an inserted toothpick should come out clean. (If not, place back in the oven for another 10-20 minutes.) Remove the cake from the water bath and cool completely to room temperature. When cool, shake the pan from side to side to loosen, place a large platter inverted over the cake, hold tightly and quickly flip over. With a rubber spatula scrape the remaining cajeta onto the cake.
- Serve at room temperature, or chill and serve cold. Both are !Muy Delicioso! Garnish with more cajeta if desired.
So creative and such a cool recipe, awesome job!
So we’ve made this a few times and we are in love. It has such a unique flavor and is so addicting.
This is better than the previous recipe I got. You were correct with using butter to line the pan.
I have to cut back on the cinnamon next time. Somehow it was a bit overpowering for a chocolate cake.
Will definitely make this again. Thanks!!!
Buttermilk not easy to find here in Thailand. What can I replace with?
Hi Carolina,
You can make buttermilk by adding 2-3 teaspoons of lemon juice or white vinegar to whole milk. Let it sit for 10 minutes before using in the recipe. :)
Any idea if a 1:1 gluten free flour blend would work in this?
Hi Meg!
I haven’t tried it with this recipe, but it works in nearly everything else, so I think it would work. If you try it, please report back. :)
Chocoflan impossible cake. I had been hoping for a reason to make this cake and today was the day. My grandson and I got up early and made this cake for after we ate his gourmet dinner. The cake was a big hit with everyone, his Mom, Aunt and Uncle. It was so delicious, everyone wanted to take a second piece home for later! We took your tips to heart, which is why we were so successful. We saw the cake come thtough the flan while cooling. Real cool! FYI, I am 72 and don’t get around very well and my wonderful grandson is my first grandchild and was born on my birthday 31 years ago! I am so lucky!
Correction: . . . through the flan while cooking. . .
Am I the only one who thought it was chocolate cake with a slice of an apple on top?! I’m glad it was flan and not an apple though, much better! LMAO This is a great recipes though and it looks like it’ll satisfy a chocolate addict like myself
The best 2-for-1 deal in town!
Hi, Such great ideas. I am always trying to make something new for my baby lunch item. This time I found your list useful. I am going to add this to my baby lunch item. Hope, so my baby also loves it. Thanks for the sharing this yummy recipe tips.
Recipe is perfect. Made a beautiful dessert for anniversary. Thank you for sharing such a great dessert!
Something does not sound right here. You are pouring the caramel sauce first into the bundt pan followed by the cake batter and finally the flan.
Looking at the attached photos it is obvious that the flan mixture preceded the cake batter into the pan. That and the fact that you are only filling the roasting pan with only two inches of water is indicative that the Bain Marie was meant for the flan and not the cake.
I would really like to give this recipe a whirl and would appreciate receiving your comments.
Hady
I went through notes regarding the reversal of layers. I have had that happen in my slow cooker molten lava cake. I will try the recipe and revert.
The flan is heavier than the cake batter and sinks to the bottom in the pan while the fluffy, air filled cake batter rises to the top. The recipe should work as presented.
Hi, in my country we do not have evaporated milk, do you think a traditional recipe of flan will work?
Hi Dinah,
Yes, just scald the milk first in a pan, then cool it. That way, it has more of the qualities of evaporated milk. Happy baking!
Interesting, so the flan goes through the cake batter and ends on top when flipped? Looks great!!
That’s what I was wondering! Is that why it’s impossible?