Chocolate Pecan Flan
Chocolate Pecan Flan
Flan is a wonderful, traditional Mexican dessert. It's a rich, creamy, cooked egg custard, often flavored with vanilla and baked in a water bath to retain its delicacy. Adding chocolate and topping it with pecans makes it an extremely indulgent dessert, but...Who cares? Go ahead, spoil yourself!
Ingredients
- Softened butter, (to coat pan)
- 1/4 cup caramel sauce
- 10 tablespoons butter, (room temperature)
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs, (room temperature)
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 4 ounces cream cheese, (room temperature)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup pecans, (chopped)
Instructions
- Place rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
- Coat a 12-cup Bundt pan with butter, then coat the bottom with 1/4 cup caramel sauce and put in a large roasting pan. The roasting pan will serve as a water bath during baking.
- Add butter and sugar to the bowl and, using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, beat until light and fluffy, then beat in 1 egg.
- Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa in a medium bowl.
- Beat 1/3 flour mixture and 1/2 buttermilk into egg mixture.
- Repeat, ending with flour mixture, and blend until well incorporated.
- In a blender, combine evaporated milk, condensed milk, cream cheese, 3 eggs, and vanilla extract.
- Blend on high for 30 seconds.
- Scoop batter into prepared Bundt pan and spread evenly.
- Slowly pour the flan mixture over the cake batter. Batters may appear to mix when pouring into a pan, but they completely separate while baking, with the flan ending up on the bottom when inverted.
- Cover with foil and add 1 inch of hot water to the roasting pan.
- Carefully slide the pan into the oven and bake until the surface of the cake is firm to touch or the inserted toothpick comes out clean (about 1 hour).
- When the cake is done, remove from the water bath and cool completely to room temperature (about 1 hour). Chill for 24 hours before serving.
- Invert a large, rimmed serving platter over a Bundt pan, grasp tightly together and flip over.
- Remove pan and scrape remaining caramel sauce from pan onto the cake.
- Garnish with chopped pecans and serve.
