Cake of the Day: Caramel Espresso Flan Cake

Photo: Mandy Lee

Lady and Pups author Mandy Lee was our Blogger of the Week last week. She’s also the mastermind behind this flan cake, the genius of which “lies not only [in] the magic of the two self-separating layers of flan and sponge cake, but also [in] the miraculous outcome of a butter-roux cake batter,” writes Lee.

Roux is the flour and butter mixture that classic French cooks have used as the base for soups and sauces for centuries. Lee’s application, though, is pretty new: She uses roux in the batter of her sponge cake because she claims she’s not very skilled at creaming butter. “Without creaming butter and sugar, the recipe melts the butter in 1 minute, which then cooks the flour in another. Yeah like making a roux.”

Here’s the process: Lee lines the bottom of a cake pan with homemade caramel sauce, then she pours in an espresso-infused custard, and finally, she adds her roux batter. The dense custard stays at the bottom of the pan and the light batter floats on top. After it cooks and cools, Lee inverts the cake pan with a large plate and out comes a beautiful cake-sized flan. She calls it “more on the side of tiramisu than cake. Wetter. Custardy-er. Better.”

Get the the recipe here: Caramel Espresso Flan and Roux Cake

Photo: Mandy Lee

More delicious Cakes of the Day:

Magic Cookie Cake

Madeira Cake with Caramelized Tangerines

Gluten-Free and Vegan Tiramisu Cake