Chocoflan

This recipe is by a new addition to the Food Network, Marcela Valladolid from "Mexican Made Easy".  All I did was transform it into gluten-free.  Flan is such a rich part of my Puerto Rican culture.  Adding a chocolate cake to the mix was genius.  My sister's love chocolate and I thought it would be a perfect dessert for this years Valentine's Day.  We lost our father on the 13th and so for the first time since we were children we were spending Valentine's Day together.  My mother was an expert flan maker and it was always one of those dishes that I would not even gander trying because I thought it would be too difficult, and that I could not live up to the legendary flan making of my mother.  Making this flan was a sort of tribute to my mother and father.  As sad as this Valentine's Day was for our family, it was also bitter sweet for we knew our mother was waiting for our father in heaven with her dancing shoes.  Now they could finally be together after 6 years apart.  We know that they are happy and shining their love down on us.  Their memories and many of their traditions will live on through their children and grand children.  Thank you mamí y papí!  Feliz dia de San Valentín.  Que los gozan!!  (Happy St. Valentine's Day!  Enjoy!).

Chocoflan
Recipe courtesy Marcela Valladolid from the Food Network's "Mexican Made Easy"


Serves:10 servings

Ingredients

• 12-cup capacity Bundt pan

• Softened butter, to coat pan

• 1/4 cup cajeta or caramel sauce (see recipe below)

For the cake:

• 10 tablespoons butter, room temperature

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 egg, room temperature

• 1 3/4 cups Amy's gluten-free cake flour (see recipe below)

• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda

* 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

• 1/3 cup cocoa powder

• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

For the flan:

• 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

• 3 eggs

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For garnish:

• 1/4 cup cajeta or caramel sauce

• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Put an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Coat a Bundt pan with a little butter, then coat the bottom with 1/4 cup cajeta and put it in a large roasting pan. (The roasting pan will serve as a water bath during baking.)

For the cake: Add the butter and sugar to a bowl and using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, beat until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa in a medium bowl. Beat 1/3 of the flour mixture, and 1/2 of the buttermilk into the egg mixture. Repeat, ending with the flour mixture. Blend until well incorporated.

For the flan: In a blender, combine the evaporated milk, condensed milk, cream cheese, eggs and vanilla. Blend on high for 30 seconds.

Scoop the cake batter into the prepared Bundt pan and spreading evenly. Slowly pour the flan mixture over the cake batter. Cover with foil and add about 1-inch of hot water to the roasting pan.

Carefully slide the pan into the oven, and bake 1 hour, until the surface of the cake is firm to the touch, or an inserted toothpick comes out clean. When cake is done, remove from the water bath and cool completely to room temperature, about 1 hour.

Invert a large, rimmed serving platter over the Bundt pan, grasp tightly together, giggle a little and flip over. Remove the pan and scrape any remaining cajeta from the pan onto the cake, garnish with chopped pecans and serve!

Cook's Notes: The batters may appear to mix when you pour them into the pan, but they completely separate while baking, with the flan ending up on the bottom when it's inverted. I like eating it warm, but traditionally, it is chilled 24 hours before serving.

Flan is a rich, creamy, cooked egg custard. It is often flavored with vanilla and baked in a water bath to retain its delicacy.

Cajeta is a thick and creamy spread or paste made with caramelized sugar and milk. It is used as a desert on its own or as a topping. Also known as "dulce de leche," it is sold in many supermarkets, Latin specialty markets or online. It can be substituted with a thick caramel sauce.

Amy’s Gluten-Free Cake Flour


My dear friend Amy Radbill, a teacher for many gluten free classes at the Davis Food Co-op. She became my inspiration for gluten-free baking. Prior to being diagnosed with Celiac I was considered the family baker. I would create all of the baked goods for all of our family gatherings. Once diagnosed it took two years before I was able to taste a piece (mind you an excellent piece!) of cake. With this recipe you cannot taste the difference between regular and gluten-free cakes. In fact in many ways it is even more delicious. The color, flavor and texture are phenomenal. My first class with Amy was “Gluten Free Cakes and Breakfast Breads”. It opened a new world for me and for my family. Life has not been the same.

For 3 cups:

1 cup rice flour

1 cup cornstarch or arrowroot

2/3 cup potato starch

1/3 cup tapioca starch

1 tablespoon potato flour

For 9 cups:

3 cups rice flour

3 cups cornstarch or arrowroot

2 cups potato starch

1 cup tapioca starch

3 tablespoons potato flour



*If you would like to purchase baking flour pre-mixed, Authentic Foods sells Bette Hagman’s Featherlight Rice Flour Mix, but it’s not as good as Amy’s. The differences are slight but enough to make the difference in the smooth texture of your cake.

Caramel Sauce Recipe



Ingredients

1 cup of sugar

6 tablespoons butter

½ cup heavy whipping cream

Method

1. First, before you begin, make sure you have everything ready to go – the cream and the butter next to the pan, ready to put in. Making caramel is a fast process that cannot wait for hunting around for ingredients. If you don’t work fast, the sugar will burn. Safety first – make sure there are no children under foot and you may want to wear oven mitts: the caramelized sugar will be much hotter than boiling water.

2. Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2 quart saucepan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wodden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on. Note: This recipe works best if you are using a thick-bottomed pan. If you find that you end up burning some of the sugar before the rest is melted, the next time you attempt it, add a ½ cup of water tot he sugar at the beginning of the process, this will help the sugar to cook more evenly, though it will take longer as the water will need to evaporate before the sugar will caramelize.

3. As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.

4. Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Count to three, then slowly add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Note: When you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably. This is why you must use a pan that is at least 2 quarts (preferably 3 quarts) big.

5. Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple of minutes, then pour into a glass mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. (Remember to use pot holders whn handling the jar filled with hot caramel sauce.) Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.

• Makes a little over one cup of caramel sauce.