Mexican Chocoflan

Here I am with a recipe called Mexican Chocoflan. Also known as '''the impossible cake'. I'm not sure why it was named impossible cake. I think the 'impossible' was not for the cake's preparation. It might be for the exclamation after you see the end result...like " Wow!!! Impossible!!!" 😊

Anyways...lets call it Chocoflan 😁

Recipe source: My Spicy Kitchen

Ingredients:
Serves 2

For caramel:
Sugar - 3 tbsp

For flan and cake:
Egg - 1 (50 gms, whisked)
Use 2 tbsp from this for the flan and 1 tbsp for the cake

For flan:
Egg - 2 tbsp 
Milk - 3 tbsp (add 1 tbsp milk powder)
Sweetened Condensed Milk - 1/4 cup
Vanilla Extract - 1/4 tsp

For Cake:
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Plain Flour - 3 tbsp
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 1½ tbsp
Baking Soda - 1/8 tsp
Baking Powder - 1/ 8 tsp
Salt- a very small pinch
Egg - 1 tbsp
Yogurt - 2 tbsp
Vegetable Oil - 3/4 tbsp
Vanilla Extract - 1/4 tsp

Method:
Grease a baking pan. I used a pudding mould.

For the caramel:
1. Add the sugar in a pan, melt in low heat until sugar starts to caramelise to golden brown colour. Don't stir. Gently swirl the pan. Pour the caramel into the prepared baking pan and swirl it to spread well, the caramel will set solid in few seconds.

Preparing caramel

For the flan:
1. In a separate bowl mix all the ingredients thoroughly with a whisk gently.
2. Set it aside.

For the cake:
1. In a bowl, add all the dry ingredients and mix well.
2. In another bowl, add the egg and wet ingredients. Mix it well thoroughly.

Cake's wet & dry ingredients

3. Now Preheat the oven to 180°c.
4. Mix the above wet and dry ingredients well.

Assembling everything together:
1. Scoop the cake batter into the prepared baking pan and level it.

2. Next strain and gently pour the flan mixture on top.

3. Prepare a water bath -> take a little larger pan that would fit the baking pan. Place the baking pan into the large pan and gently pour hot water into the large pan till it reaches half way up.

4. Bake it for 45 - 60 minutes  (insert a tooth pick or a knife to test if the cake/flan is done) & allow it to cool completely. Cover with aluminium foil and refrigerate it for minimum 2 hours.

5. Remove the foil and run a knife along the edges of the pan to loosen the cake/flan.
6. Flip/invert it on to a plate gently.

Voila!!! Wow... Impossible!!!😊

The magic here is that the layers get swapped while baking! 😀 Enjoy the cool dessert 🍽 😋

Note:
1. For this recipe, my 1 cup = 240 ml.
2. From my experience, it's best to invert the flan/cake only when it cools completely (after refrigeration). The flan sets firmly.
3. After inverting, if some caramel gets stuck to the base of the baking pan, immerse the pan in a larger pan of boiling water and melt it. Drizzle over the flan.

Ghee Biscuits

A simple biscuit with the heavenly combination of ghee and cardamom.

INGREDIENTS:
Plain flour - 100 gms
Icing sugar - 50 gms
Baking soda - half of 1/4 tsp
Ghee (clarified butter) - 50-60 gms
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

METHOD:
1. Melt and cool the ghee. Add cardamom powder.
2. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, icing sugar and baking soda. Mix them together.

4. Add the ghee slowly to the flour mixture and make a soft dough. Don't overdo it.
5. On a flat surface, roll the dough gently to about 1 cm thick.
6. Use any cookie cutter to cut to your desired shape.

7. Place it all on a parchment lined baking tray and bake it in a 170°c preheated oven for 12-15 mins.

8. Cool completely and store them in an air tight container.

The biscuits can be served immediately but if served a day later they taste much better as the sugar and cardamom gets blended in the them nicely.

Braided Bread - Coconut Filling

My base Nigerian Agege bread dough is very versatile. Earlier I had made Choco Twist Bread with the same dough. 

Today tried it with the flavourful coconut filling. It turned out awesome. This dough never lets me down. I promise...it will never let you too. Now straight to the recipe...

INGREDIENTS:
Makes 4 breads (each about 20 cm long)
Agege Bread Dough  : 1 batch

Filling:
Dessicated coconut - 3 tbsp
Tutti frutti - 3 tbsp
Brown sugar - 1/2 tbsp
White sugar - 1/2 tbsp
Butter - 1/2 tbsp
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon powder- 1/4 tsp

For brushing on top:
Egg - 1 / Melted Butter - 4 tbsp
Milk - 1 tbsp
Beat it together.

METHOD:
1. Mix all the filling ingredients and microwave for about 20 seconds.
2. Filling is ready.

3. Divide the Agege bread dough into 4 parts.
4. Roll each dough to an elongated oval shape to about 20 cm long (picture below).

5. Place the filling at the centre and snip the sides about 1cm width using a knife or scissors (picture below).

6. Braid the strips (criss-crossed) over the filling (picture below).

7. Carefully place it on a greased or parchment-lined baking tray. Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rest and rise for 15 minutes.

8. Brush the top with the egg wash and bake it in a preheated 200°c oven for about 12-15 minutes.

9. Right after taking out of the oven apply butter well on whole bread and let it rest covered with a cloth for 2-3 minutes to soften the bread completely.

My Tip:
For this recipe, my 1 cup = 240 ml