I've never been much for sweets. You can say I take after my dad (whose constant and often mimicked response when asked to share dessert is "no, thank you"), or you can say I just have a salty tooth (if "you" are me, that is), but either way, I'm generally very happy to pass on the desserts. It seems strange, given the number of years I have worked in the pastry arts. Maybe I just exhausted what little sweet tooth I had, or maybe it was never there at all.
Whatever the case, it makes baking for dinner parties something I truly look forward to. That stack of recipes I've cut out of magazines or bookmarked in my browser? Those get put to use when I'm planning on dining "chez amis." I get to make something I would normally have only a little taste of, and share share share!
I was browsing on FoodGawker a few weeks after my anniversary visit to Mezon (a delicious tapas restaurant just over the border into Connecticut), when I discovered something wonderful: a recipe for chocoflan.
From the picture, I knew it was just like the devilish dessert Jim and I had enjoyed on our anniversary, and I had to try it.
The magic here is that the layers of cake and flan reverse during the baking process. I'm sure there is a simple scientific explanation.
Yet magic it remains.
I used my very first (fancy red) bundt pan and a shallow roasting pan.
Added some cajeta and then the chocolate cake batter.
Then poured over the flan mixture.
The chocoflan bakes in a water bath, which is where the magic happens.
(Do I sound like an episode of MTV Cribs? Mah bad.)
The layers have reversed when the cake has baked
leaving you with a very impressive looking dessert!
This masterpiece is dense and moist, as if the creamy texture of the flan laced itself through the chocolate cake on its way to the bottom of the pan. It's good.
So good, in fact, that I've emailed (by insistent request) the recipe around to friends who weren't even present that night. It's a winner. Click for the recipe and try it yourself.
And share share share!
Whatever the case, it makes baking for dinner parties something I truly look forward to. That stack of recipes I've cut out of magazines or bookmarked in my browser? Those get put to use when I'm planning on dining "chez amis." I get to make something I would normally have only a little taste of, and share share share!
I was browsing on FoodGawker a few weeks after my anniversary visit to Mezon (a delicious tapas restaurant just over the border into Connecticut), when I discovered something wonderful: a recipe for chocoflan.
From the picture, I knew it was just like the devilish dessert Jim and I had enjoyed on our anniversary, and I had to try it.
The magic here is that the layers of cake and flan reverse during the baking process. I'm sure there is a simple scientific explanation.
Yet magic it remains.
I used my very first (fancy red) bundt pan and a shallow roasting pan.
Added some cajeta and then the chocolate cake batter.
Then poured over the flan mixture.
The chocoflan bakes in a water bath, which is where the magic happens.
(Do I sound like an episode of MTV Cribs? Mah bad.)
The layers have reversed when the cake has baked
So good, in fact, that I've emailed (by insistent request) the recipe around to friends who weren't even present that night. It's a winner. Click for the recipe and try it yourself.
And share share share!
