I love the holiday season! I love shopping for and wrapping presents, spending time with family and baking. I do so much baking during the holidays. I bake cookies for teachers and neighbors and I make about 10 "Flan Imposible" or impossible flans for my friends and family. When I was growing up, flan was a staple at all social gatherings. If we went to a fiesta at my tia's house, there was flan. If we had guests over our house, there was flan. I learned how to make flan at a young age. When you make a recipe, like flan, as often as I do, you tend to look for variations to spice things up. A couple years ago, I learned about the "flan imposible or chocoflan" and I knew I had to make it. Flan Imposible is a layered dessert with cake on the bottom and a flan on the top. It seems impossible to make but it's actually really simple and tastes AMAZING!!
Flan Imposible or Impossible FlanTotal Time: 1 hr and 30 minutes
Ingredients:
For the caramel:1 cup granulated sugar1/3 cup water
For the flan:5 large eggs1 cup granulated sugar1 can Nestle® Carnation Evaporated milk1 can condensed milk6 oz. whole milk1 tsp vanilla extractpinch of salt
For the cake:1 yellow boxed cake mix1 can Libby's pumpkin1 tbsp ground cinnamon1/2 cup vegetable oil3 large eggs
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a pan, over medium high heat, cook sugar and water until it becomes caramelized. While still boiling hot, pour caramel into a bundt pan. Swirl to coat pan.
If you have never had flan before, it's basically an egg custard covered in caramel syrup. It's delicious and easy to make. The trick to a good flan, or any dessert really, is to use good ingredients. For my flan, I use the same ingredients my grandmother used to make her desserts, like Nestle® Carnation evaporated milk. I remember always seeing cans of this evaporated milk in her pantry. She used it in almost all her desserts, making them rich and creamy, so I do the same.
Now, in a mixer, beat eggs and sugar for about 1 minute. Add the evaporated milk, condensed milk, whole milk, vanilla and salt and continue mixing for another 5 minutes. Pour the flan mixture over the caramel in the bundt pan.
For the cake: In your mixer, add cake mix, pumpkin, 3 eggs, cinnamon and vegetable oil. Mix on low for two minutes. DO NOT over mix.
Your batter should be smooth and creamy!
Now comes the crazy part that freaks people out. Pour your cake mix over the flan mixture in your bundt pan.
Bake in a water bath (enough to cover the syrup, about 2 cups of water) for 55-60 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. If you notice, your cake baked all the way to the rim of the pan.
Once cooled, I suggest at least 4-5 hours or overnight, you can flip your flan imposible. To flip your dessert, first run a knife around all the edges and the around the center hole of the pan. Put a plate over the top of the pan and flip your flan. Leave the pan over the plate until you hear the flan drop onto the plate. You might need to tap the top of the pan a few times to loosen it a little more. Look at that!!
I have no idea the science behind why this happens but it's so crazy to me how the 2 layers separate during baking. It makes for a beautiful dessert. Most people make this flan as a chocoflan, meaning it has chocolate cake as the bottom layer, but I wanted to keep my flan a little more fall-themed with pumpkin cake!! It's so fun to take a traditional dessert and make it a little more modern!
Making flan imposible is a little time-consuming so I always make sure to make it the day before we are going to eat it. Usually, by the time I have baked all the flan for family and friends, it's December 24th and I need to make some cookies for Santa and Christmas day!! I will be honest with you, here is where the shortcuts come in. I mentioned before how much I believe in good ingredients, so my go-to for shortcuts are also more Nestle products: Nestle® TOLL HOUSE Holiday Chocolate Chip cookie dough and Nestle® TOLL HOUSE Baking Mix with Butterfinger Morsels!!
These mixes and cookie dough come with everything you need to get your cookies made on time! It makes my life so much easier and I know that once baked, I am going to have an amazing festive cookie to go with my flan!!
I purchase all my baking needs, especially all my Nestle® products, at Walmart. Look for all the items for my recipe in the special display or in the baking aisle!!
Be sure to check our the Nestle® Flavorful Moments Pinterest Boards for more holiday recipe inspiration!!