Leche Flan Cake
What is Leche Flan Cake
Leche Flan Cake also known as Custard Cake and it’s is probably the most decadent Filipino dessert I have ever tried! Not only that you get to eat a delicious cake at the end but the process of making this cake is so magical to me. How the cake batter floats on top of the flan mix is so cool! This cake is made with 2 layers, the first layer is sponge cake and the second layer is leche flan or custard flan with sugar syrup drizzling down. The combination of these lovely sweet delights are a match made in heaven and it’s perfect for any any occasion.
Every time I serve this to my Supper Club guests or parties at home, I get a lot of compliments so they must like it too! Hahaha!
I couldn’t find any information on the origins, so I don’t know how or where the Filipinos got the idea for this cake but whatever it might be I’m glad it happened because this dessert is definitely one of my favourite Filipino cakes! If you know any additional information please comment on this blog post.
Let’s talk about ingredients
Most of the ingredients on this recipe are readily available at your local supermarket so you shouldn’t find it difficult to find.
There are some bakers who use ready-made sponge cake mix which is fine, they seem to have good results, but I haven’t actually used this myself and prefer making this from scratch! You can always experiment if you’d like. If you do try it please let me know if it works.
My tips!
- Take each stage at a time and don’t panic. I know this cake seem scary, I thought that before too. Putting them in stages like this makes this bake easier to process in my head and also when making it.
- Also don’t over mix your chiffon/sponge cake mixture, make sure you fold them gently to keep as much bubbles as possible to make the cake nice and light or airy.
- Use a solid baking tray or cake tin NOT springform / retractable / loose base tins
You can watch I how I made my Leche flan cake below:
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Ingredients
For the Leche Flan
For the Chiffon cake
Instructions
Preheat oven to 160C or gas mark 3
Stage 1 : Leche Flan In a saucepan, add sugar and water. Let it simmer until the water evaporates and the sugar caramelises and turns golden brown. Pour the sugar into your baking tin or cake tin and leave it on the side to cool down. Next, In a large bowl, add egg yolk and lightly whisk them. Next, add condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla extract into the bowl and lightly mix them too. Try and not create any bubbles so that you will get a nice and smooth flan. Put it aside for later.
Stage 2 : Chiffon or Sponge mixture In another bowl, add all the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, 100g sugar salt and mix them well. Next, add the wet ingredients: eggs yolks, vegetable oil and water. Give it a really good mix until all of the ingredients are incorporated together. Put it aside for later.
Stage 3: Meringue In a large bowl, add egg whites, using an electric hand mixer whisk until the egg white turns bubbly. Add cream of tartar and continue to whisk for about 20 seconds. Continue to whisk the egg whites and slowly add sugar in a few batches. Whisk until you get a stiff peak.
Stage 4: Chiffon + Meringue Take your chiffon batter mixture and using a spatula add a quarter of the meringue mixture into the chiffon batter. Gently fold them together until the batter is smooth. Then, add the rest of the meringue mixture into the chiffon mixture, again gently fold them together until they are well and truly mixed. Put this aside for later.
Stage 5 : Layering Take the cake tin with a set caramelised sugar and strain the flan mixture onto the sugar. Take the chiffon batter and slowly scoop or pour the batter onto the flan mixture. It should float and not sink into the flan mixture.
The oven should be ready at this stage. Take an empty tray and fill it a quarter of the way up with water, place the cake tin with the flan & chiffon mixtures into the tray with water and steam bake for about 45-60 minutes.
Stage 6: It’s done! You will know that it’s ready when the middle part of the cake is not soft or jiggly anymore. If you do the stick test to the chiffon part, when the chiffon is ready the leche flan is also ready. Take it out of the oven and leave it to cool down. Once cooled, using a knife run it through around the cake tin to loosen it. Then, take a serving plate big enough, place it on top of the tin and turn it upside to release the cake flan. Slowly lift the baking tin off to reveal your leche flan cake and caramelised sugar should drizzle down the sides!
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The cake turned out so well! Can’t wait to make this.
Question though, isn’t the leche flan part too sweet? There is 1 can condensed milk plus another 300g sugar.
When I make leche flan I use just a can of condensed milk and people find it too sweet already.
Hi Wi, I’m so glad it turned it well for you! The 300g of sugar is for you to make the caramel for the bottom of the flan NOT mixed in with the flan mixture. Otherwise it will definitely turn too sweet. Just the can of condensed milk for the flan mixture is enough.
I can’t wait to make this for a dinner party (it’s the favorite dessert of my friend, who happens to be Filipino). Could I please ask about the size or your pan (diameter or volume)? I was thinking of using an 8″ ceramic pot. Thank you!
Hello T,
Thank you for visiting my blog. The measurement for my pan is 24cm diameter and 11cm depth. I hope this helps, if you want to ask me more questions. Please message me on instagram @foodwithmae I can see it easier there. All the best!
Kind regards,
Mae