. Skip to main content

Magic flan with a vanilla sponge

Time for a little magic, guys. There is a chocolate version of this famous "impossible" flan but I've tried a vanilla cake version for a change.  First time making this and I was a bit nervous at first but really pleased with the result.  It really does work! I love the mixture of creamy custard over a cake base. 
I usually make a custard with a dozen eggs so was interested to see how a 3-egg custard would turn out.  With the slow cooking and water bath it turned out suprisingly velvety and delicious. The caramel also did its job of giving that rich color and bold taste.

Here's the recipe : 

Flan :
1 cup granulated sugar (for the caramel)
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk (I didn't have any so replace it with cream)
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Start with making the caramel.  Melt 1 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until it melts and becomes a medium brown color (at least 10 minutes, watch over it though).  Pour into a non-stick Bundt pan or fluted brioche pan (I used a small capacity 8-inch fluted brioche mould and it worked out well, this is why my cake is taller, if you have larger capacity type it may be flatter). Swirl the pan to get the caramel to coat a bit of the sides of the pan (I should have done this more). Allow caramel to harden. In a bowl, mix softened cream cheese with the eggs, then add milks and vanilla.  Set aside. Then make the cake batter : 

Cake batter :
2 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup cake flour
1/8 cup apple or pineapple juice or kirsch
1/8 cup milk
2 tablespoons yoghurt or sourcream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teapsoon baking powder
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 180° F / 350° C.  Prepare a hot water bath and place in the oven (a pan you can place your cake pan in, once immersed, there should be about a 1-1/2" layer of hot water). Beat eggs and add the granulated sugar, then add flour, baking powder, vanilla and salt.  Add remaining liquids to thin the batter.  

Now here's the magic part : spoon the cake batter over the hardened caramel.  Don't be surprised if it crackles, the cold batter will do this to the hardened caramel.  Then pour the flan liquid over the cake batter. Place the pan in the water bath.  Bake for 60-75 minutes, or once the cake layer is cooked. The magic happens when the layers separate while baking, the flan seeping to the bottom of the pan, cake layer on top. Remove from oven and allow to cool or refrigerate overnight. 
When removing from pan, place the pan in a warm bath about 10 minutes to melt and loosen the caramel.  Loosen the sides of the cake from the pan with a thin knife. Place a serving dish over the pan, take a deep breath, then flip quickly and steadily, making sure to hold the dish and pan tightly together. 
Hope you like it. Enjoy, everyone !

Let's follow each other on Instagram : 

Some links to equipment or objects in photos :
For the fluted brioche pan : 8 inch fluted non stick brioche mould
or Fluted tube pan 95 inch
Tray Rattan tray 16.9 inch
Dishes Firenze dessert plates 9 inch

*This site contains ads and affiliate links*
See my Disclosure and Privacy statement to learn more
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Victoria Sponge cake revisited (gluten-free)

Here's a version of a Victoria sponge cake that kind of evolved on its own. This is a fairly straightforward layer cake. It involves 2 cake disks, buttercream and strawberry jam, decorated thereafter with some powdered sugar, or more cream and strawberries. I did, however, take liberties... Well, first of all, I didn't have any jam but I did have strawberries so made a quick jam by simmering about a dozen diced strawberries, a couple tablespoons of sugar and a star anise which I love adding lately to all jams (try it with fig jam, awesome combination).  But I digress... use some jam if you have some at home!  I also swirled one of the disks with raspberry reduction, mixed with a bit of the batter to add some color.  (Also, no need to do this except for a bit of fun or if you're always experimenting like me). Here's the rest of the recipe made with 2 eggs, a sign of the times : Batter: 1/2 cup softened butter or margarine 1 cup of sugar 2 eggs 1/2 cup of milk or juice...
Post a Comment
Read more

Checkerboard cake

This was actually another accidental cake!  I had been wanting to make one of these checkerboard cakes for a while, and one day, I realized I had all the ingredients ready to go in my freezer, so in essence it went pretty quickly.  I often make cake disks and use them for cakes I'm making, and freeze extra disks for later use. So I had 2 chocolate cake disks and 2 vanilla cake disks in the freezer.  All that was needed was the cream and that went pretty easily since I also had some chocolate mousse frosting I had made previously. This was my first attempt, and although it was far from perfect (leaning to one side, lol), it turned out much better and easier than I expected. For tips, I would say 1) have some good cake cutters (I used glass cups and it's not ideal) 2) spread the frosting fairly thinly in between the layers in order to see the checkboard pattern 3) if you freeze cake disks or frosting ahead of time, it is a time saver, in a delulu kind of way 4) the wow fact...
Post a Comment
Read more

Clafoutis with cherries

Clafoutis is one of my favorite French words because it can make me feel like I’m cursing or insulting someone, "You club-foot-id i o t. » Ok, only me ?! Never mind... It’s also the most delicious flan, so that’s double the fun, and the best part is it's quite easy to make. I often make different kinds depending on the fruits of the season and here you have pictures of an all cherry version, because our tree was so abundant with cherries just ready to harvest. Here's the recipe : 3 eggs 1/2 cup sugar (100 g) 3/4 cup flour (110 g) 1 cup milk (250 ml) 1 teaspoon vanilla or half teaspoon vanilla bean 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons melted butter 1/2 pound of cherries (300 g) Preheat oven to 350° F / 180° C.  Butter a deep dish, pan or ramekin. In a bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until you get a smooth batter. Add milk, flour, vanilla, salt, melted butter. Place the cherries (remove stems, but no need to remove pits) in the pan or ramekin. Pour the batter over the cherries. Bak...
Post a Comment
Read more