Leche Flan Cake Recipe

This is a delicious take on the classic leche flan. The silky, decadent Filipino custard dessert is paired with a soft and fluffy chiffon cake. And what's more, they're baked together! This leche flan cake recipe can be considered an upside-down cake, as the leche flan layer goes into the pan first, topped with the chiffon cake later, but once it's baked, it is flipped to reveal the beautiful caramelized leche flan on top and the airy chiffon cake at the bottom. The best part is that all the caramel you made that usually becomes the leche flan's "sauce"? It gets absorbed right into the chiffon!

Here are tips on how to make a leche flan cake perfectly:

1 When making the caramel, resist the urge to stir the sugar. 

The key is to spread it evenly on the bottom of your pan. Once you notice the sugar granules begin to melt, you can swirl the pan gently to distribute the melted sugar and the heat. Using utensils to stir the melting sugar will cause the melting sugar to clump up. This not only results in a grainy caramel but makes cleanup much more of a hassle.

2 Avoid bubbles in your leche flan layer by pouring it slowly into the pan. 

Once your leche flan batter is ready, use a fine-mesh sieve or strainer to strain or pop the bubbles. Then, when it's time to pour it into the cake pan, make sure to pour it slowly and as close to the bottom of the pan as possible to avoid making new bubbles as you pour.

3 Make sure you're ready to bake before you make the chiffon cake batter. 

Chiffon cakes get their fluffiness from the air that was incorporated in the meringue which means it is very delicate. This means that the longer the batter waits before entering the oven, the more air it loses. The less air it has going in, the less fluffy it will be coming out. Make sure your oven is preheated and that your leche flan layer is ready too before you begin mixing the chiffon batter. Once it's ready, get it into the preheated oven as soon as possible.

Watch the video on how to make leche flan cake: