This easy flan cake combines flan and cake into one amazing dessert! It’s so easy, it’s called magic cake!
One of my all-time favorite desserts is Puerto Rican flan de queso. It’s a baked custard made with cream cheese so it has a thick cheesecake-like texture and it’s swimming in a pool of sugar caramel sauce. It’s amazing and if you’ve never tried, I highly recommend!
My second favorite Puerto Rican dessert would have to be flancocho, or flan cake. In Puerto Rico, bizcocho is the Spanish word for cake. Whenever I go to a party and someone walks in with flancocho, they are my new best friend (either that or whoever brought the Puerto Rican Rice)!
So this dessert is a layer of cake topped with a layer of flan. Of course, there’s drippy caramel sauce involved as well. Now you don’t have to choose between cake or flan — you get the best of both worlds!
This recipe is for easy flan cake since it uses a convenient box mix. You can also change up the flavors — chocolate or pineapple cake are delicious!
Let’s talk about the details to make sure your cake turns out amazing. Firstly, this cake is usually baked in a Bundt pan, but other shapes can be used as well.
You’ll need to use a large 12 or 15 cup tube or Bundt pan. Make sure your tube pan is not the kind with a removable bottom or it will leak out everywhere.
If you’re like me and only have a small 10-cup pan, that’s perfectly ok. However, all of the cake batter won’t fit in the pan.
Just make the extra batter into cupcakes so it doesn’t go to waste. You’ll have something to snack on while the flan cake cools and sets up!
This easy flan cake is also called “magic cake” because the layers separate while baking. The flan always ends up on the bottom of the pan (top of cake when flipped).
Some people add the flan to the pan first, others add the cake mix first. It will turn out either way. I add the cake batter last, that way I don’t overfill my pan. About 85-90% full is perfect.
The cake is then baked in a water bath to ensure a smooth and creamy flan. Allow to cool completely, and then refrigerate before removing cake from the pan. Overnight is best, but allow at least 4 hours.
Your guests will be delighted when you flip it over onto a platter and all the caramel runs down. Meanwhile, you’ll see me first in line to get a slice!
This is one of our most popular summer recipes, but you can certainly make it all year long!
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If you love this recipe, you should also try making sandwich de mezcla.
Easy Flan Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 4 ounces Cream Cheese softened
- 1 14 ounce can Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 12 ounce can Evaporated Milk 12 ounces
- 3 large Egg room temperature
- 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 box Vanilla Cake Mix or yellow cake mix
- Ingredients listed on the Box
Instructions
- Preheat to oven 350°F. Set a kettle of water to boil for a water bath. Grease a large 12-cup Bundt or tube pan and place inside a larger baking pan such as a roasting pan. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt sugar until completely dissolved. Watch carefully so it does not burn. You may swirl the pan to stir. Remove from heat when it becomes amber or dark golden in color.
- Immediately pour the melted sugar into the bottom of the cake pan, working quickly before it hardens. Set aside.
- In a blender, combine cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Pour into pan over caramel sauce.
- In a large bowl with a mixer, prepare cake mix according to the package instructions. Carefully pour over flan until pan is 3/4 full (extra batter can be used for cupcakes). DO NOT stir the flan and cake batter together.
- Pour hot water into large baking dish so that water comes halfway up the sides of the Bundt pan. Bake for 60-75 minutes, checking for doneness after 1 hour. A toothpick inserted near center should come out clean.
- Remove cake from water bath and cool on wire rack. For best results, refrigerate overnight before unmolding. Place a serving plate over cake and then flip plate and cake together, right side up. Remove cake pan and serve. Store leftovers in refrigerator.