Flan & Chocolate Mug Cake Mashup

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Chocolate Mug Cake

This flan chocolate mug cake mashup is pretty genius if I do say so myself.  I have never seen it before but I knew it could be done and I was excited to create something new and original. As you can see from the photos, I really dressed this recipe up. I felt the need to highlight its special uniqueness with some hand picked flowers from the garden.  The stark contrasts of the extra dark chocolate cake and the light flan custard was something magical in and of itself and I had to bring it to its peak whimsical nature. 

This recipe is a triple hybrid – flan and chocolate cake – also known as flan cake – blended with the method of making a “mug cake”.  The first mashup is the flan cake which is a dessert that combines flan and chocolate cake.  It is essentially the soft creamy custard layer – flan – on top of chocolate cake. They are cooked together and during the cooking process they invert(staying separate) to make a beautiful looking layered dessert.  The last time I made flan cake I thought how cool would it be to turn this into a mug cake. The preparation and assembly is the same as making a flan cake but you are cooking it in a mug or bowl for less time, since it is a smaller size.  This is such a fun and exquisite dessert.  I know you will love this chocolate mug cake flan mashup!

Let’s talk more about the flan cake – it has a couple other names – magic cake and the impossible cake.  Flan cake adopted these names due to a nifty trick of the cake and custard swapping places during the cooking process.  As you read in the directions below, you pour the chocolate cake batter into the mug or cake pan and you pour the custard liquid on top of that.  As they cook, the custard goes to the bottom and the chocolate cake ends up on the top.  When you flip the cake over to get it out of the pan, the custard will be on top and the cake on bottom.  Many people are concerned to pour the batter in first and then the custard on top because they aren’t confident that theirs will turn out right – but I promise if you do this they will change places.

This recipe is the moistest chocolate mug cake I have ever had.  I used a gf 1:1 gf baking mix (making this a gluten free mug brownie variety) and a half cup of butter (vegan, Miyokos) to keep it moist and it came out perfect!  This cake is as similar to the microwave molten lava cake as you can get without the dripping liquid chocolate in the middle.  Instead of the melted chocolate you have a layer of sweet, silky, creamy custard covered in a golden caramel sauce.  TO DIE!  This recipe is a gooey chocolate mug cake for sure. 

This chocolate mug cake no milk added recipe is indeed dairy-free. I used Nut Pod’s creamer and water mixed together to make a milk alternative.  This is my favorite alternative for milk because this nut pod creamer has THE BEST flavor and texture hands down, compared to any other dairy alternatives I’ve tried.  It is thick because it is a creamer, not a milk, so I loosen it up 50% with water to make a really great milk. 

The single serve chocolate cake in a mug trend is one that I don’t think will ever die.  It is impressively good and there are so many simple and basic combinations that will turn out a great chocolate fudge mug cake.  One cup chocolate cake is a great way to portion out dessert and make it last for many servings. 

Whoever thought up chocolate cake in a cup was someone I would like to be friends with.  I love how you can cook it right in its serving vehicle so that it is warmed and ready to eat.  Adding ice-cream on top is a must! There are a few more steps to this recipe compared to the easy microwave chocolate cake because you do have to prepare the custard and caramel sauce – but it is totally worth it.  So when you’re looking to make a fun, creative dessert or it’s a special occasion, this is the one for you. 

As you can tell from the photos below this is an extra dark chocolate mug cake and that is because I used the darkest of dark, dark cocoa you can find by the King Arthurs Baking brand.  I love how the super dark, almost black, cocoa contrasts the light white/beige color of the flan custard.  It has a strikingly beautiful appearance.

You will read in the instructions below that you can cook this two different ways, either in the oven in a water bath or in the microwave in a water bath.  If you choose the microwave is does resemble a traditional microwave molten lava cake.  In many microwave versions of mug cake, there is no egg.  I used eggs in this recipe to do an actual flan cake recipe but you can certainly omit the eggs and make this a chocolate vegan mug cake.   

I love this flan mashup and think this particular combination is the best chocolate mug cake recipe variation I have made.  

I hope you love this fudgy chocolate mug cake.

Chocolate Cake Ingredients:

• 1:1 gluten free baking flour- Bobs Red Mills- 1 1/2 cups
• Cane sugar- 1 cup
• Dark cocoa powder- 3/4 cup
• Baking powder- 1 tsp
• Baking soda- 1 tsp
• Nut Pod’s creamer (or dairy milk) 1/2 cup
• Water- 1 cup
• Vanilla extract- 1 tsp
• Salt- 1/4 tsp
• Eggs- 2 whole
• Butter (plant-based Miyokos)- 1/2 cup melted

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Flan Ingredients:

-Caramel sauce:

-1/2 cup of sugar

-3 tbsp of water

Custard:

-Milk (1/2 vegan creamer from Nut Pod’s, 1/2 water) 2 cups creamer, 2 cups water

-Eggs- 3 whole eggs, 5 egg yolks

-Sugar- 1/2 cup

-Vanilla extract- 1 tsp

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Instructions:

Making the caramel sauce:

-Add the sugar and water to a sauce pan and turn on med-high.  Allow liquid to find a moderate boil and cook for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. 

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To make the gf chocolate cake:

1.Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk them together: gf flour blend, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt.

2. In another bowl, crack and scramble the eggs

3. Add wet ingredients to the eggs: Nut Pod’s creamer, water, vanilla extract, melted butter.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, whisk them together until fully incorporated. 

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Making the Flan Custard:

1.Warm the milk (I used 1/2 Nut Pod’s creamer and 1/2 water)

2.To the warming milk, add the sugar, vanilla extract and salt, whisk together.

3. In a separate bowl, scramble the whole eggs and egg yolks.

4. Temper the eggs and warm milky liquid together by slowly adding one laddle (or approximately 1/2 cup) to the scrambled eggs while whisking continuously.  If you add the eggs to the milky liquid they will scramble.

5. Once each incremental portion of sweet milky liquid is fully incorporated into the scrambled eggs add another portion until all of the liquid is gone.  When there is a bit more of the milk liquid than eggs you can add the rest of the milk liquid in one swoop. 

*Pre heat oven to 350 degrees or set microwave on low.

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Assembly of mug cake:

1.Pour the golden caramel sauce on the bottom of your mug or bowl and place in freezer until hard.

2.Remove the mugs/bowls from the freezer when the caramel sauce is hard and pour in the chocolate cake batter, a quarter full.

3. Ladle the liquid flan custard over the top of the chocolate cake batter until it is just under 3/4 full.

4. Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven in a roasting pan filled with water 1/2 way up the mug/bowl and cook in the oven for 30-35 minutes. Or cover with aluminum and place in a glass bowl with water 1/2 way up and place in the microwave for 6 minutes. 

5. When the mug cake is finished cooking, remove and allow it to cool.  When it is just warm to the touch scoop the cake out with whatever large serving spoon utensil and turn it upside down and back into the same mug/bowl.   Now, the caramel should be on top and dripping around the sides back to the bottom, the flan is on top and the chocolate cake is on bottom. 

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Notes:

-I used Miyokos brand for the plant-based butter and Nut Pods Creamer to make the dairy free milk.

-Here I will link the SUPER DARK cocoa: King Arthurs

-This flan cake has a couple other names, it is also referred to as ‘magic cake’ or impossible cake’ this is because in the cooking process the custard and cake batter switch places.  The custard goes to the bottom of the mug/bowl and the cake goes to the top.  If this process does not happen seamlessly in one even line then chop the cake up and mix it around until you find a good distribution of flan and cake that is even and looking pretty. 

-When pouring the custard liquid on top of the chocolate cake batter, use a ladle to make sure this step is gentle as to not make an indentations in the cake. You can also pour it over a spatula to slow and divert the stream.

-This is also a paleo chocolate mug cake.

More related recipes:

• Chocolate peanut butter mug cake
• Chocolate chip cookie mug cake
• Molten lava cake in a mug
• Chocolate vegan mug cake
• Cocoa mug cake or Cacao mug cake
• Molten chocolate mug cake
• Microwave brownie in a cup
• Keto mug brownie
• Single serve chocolate cake 

This is a great recipe to try if you’re a fan of fudgy chocolate mug cake. This recipe is great for holidays, unleveling birthday cakes and other super special occasions. If you do try this easy chocolate mug cake please rate it or comment below. If you made any alterations and want to let me in on your ideas for mug cakes, I would love to hear about it!  If you would like to share or pin on Pinterest I am always thankful.  Check out my food journey on Pinterest at Molé in the Wall.

If you have a sweet tooth, check out some other confections of mine: Apple Pie Flautas, Maine Maple Glazed Donuts(gf and baked), Chocolate Dipped Caramel Apples.

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