In Good FlavorPumpkin Flan Cake with Maple Brown Butter Glaze comprises a tender pumpkin cake layer, a custardy flan layer, a custardy flan layer, and a sweet-nutty-buttery glaze. A garnish of salted pecans provides a deliciously unexpected contrast to the sweetness of the cake.
The way my husband and our neighbor went at the glaze on this cake was like a scene from National Geographic. You’d think they haven’t eaten in a week and couldn’t get nourishment into their bodies fast enough.
I’ll back up a bit for you. I had my husband and two next-door neighbors taste test this cake. When I proceeded to remove and box up the uneaten portion, my husband and our female friend swooped in on the layer of glaze remaining on the cake stand with lightning speed. I mean, fingers swirling, double dipping, and the whole messy scene. They did not stop until the whole cake stand was wiped clean. It was both bizarre and extremely comical.
Now, if you watch Friends, you will see how this reminded me of the episode when Rachel and Chandler ate the cheesecake off the floor. Ewww!! but they couldn’t resist!
I don’t mean to gross you out, but that was how much my husband and friend LOVED the glaze! These are two ordinaryl, well-mannered, and well-adjusted adults who had a sudden attack of brown-butter-maple-syrup-glazitis. They could not help themselves! It was quite a Kodak moment.
Our neighbors ranted and raved about how good the cake was. The husband is lactose intolerant and usually monitors his dairy intake. He was not watching his intake of THIS cake! And his wife asked me to make one for her for Thanksgiving. So this little creation already has some diehard fans!
I took inspiration from the Mexican Chocoflan for this creation. Chocoflan is also known as Impossible Cake. It is two-tiered, with a layer of chocolate cake and a layer of flan. What makes Chocoflan unique is the magic that happens during baking—when you fill the pan, the batter is poured in first, then the custardy flan layer is poured over the batter. During baking, the flan seeps through the batter. As the cake bakes, the batter rises to the top while the flan layer settles to the bottom. How cool is that? To sum it up, the two layers do the old switcheroo during the baking process!
The cake is baked and covered in a steam bath. The result is a tender pumpkin cake with a silky smooth flan. It is delightfully complimented with a sweet, slightly nutty maple syrup and brown butter glaze. To provide an unexpected contrast to the sweetness of the cake, toasted and salted pecans are added as a garnish. DELISH!
If you’re looking for a dessert to wow your guests this fall and holiday season, this cake will knock their socks off! If you like this, check out my Chocoflan Tunnel Cake. It is a winner too!
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Pumpkin Flan Cake with Maple Brown Butter Glaze
Description
Pumpkin Flan Cake with Maple Brown Butter Glaze comprises a tender pumpkin cake layer, a custardy flan layer, a custardy flan layer, and a sweet-nutty-buttery glaze. A garnish of salted pecans provides a deliciously unexpected contrast to the sweetness of the cake.
Ingredients
For the flan layer:
For the Maple Brown Butter Glaze:
For the Salted Pecans:
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Beat sugar, oil, and eggs on medium-high in a large bowl for 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla extract. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, beating until just incorporated. Add half of the half & half. Blend. Continue adding another 1/3 of the flour mixture, and beat until just incorporated. Add the remaining half & half. Beat in the last 1/3 of the flour mixture. Add the pumpkin puree, beating until well blended.
- Generously coat a 10-inch bundt pan with softened butter. Coat with flour. Shake off excess. Pour cake batter into the pan. Set aside.
- Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs, beating until well blended. Add sweetened condensed milk, half and half, and vanilla, beating for 1 minute.
- Pour flan over the cake layer. Cover tightly with a greased aluminum foil.
- Place the bundt cake pan in a larger pan and place it into the oven. Pour enough almost boiling water into the larger pan to fill the bundt cake pan halfway up. Bake for 70 to 80 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few dry crumbs attached.
- Cool on a rack for 1 hour. Invert bundt pan onto a cake platter. Unmold by giving it one vertical shake to loosen the cake. Remove the bundt pan. Chill the cake.
- Melt butter in a saucepan on medium heat. Allow butter to become bubbly, then foamy, and develop a nutty smell in about 3-4 minutes. Stir gently and watch the butter carefully once it begins to foam, as it could burn quickly. Check for milk solids that deposit at the bottom of the pan. Once the milk solids turn golden brown, remove from heat. The butter will darken as it sits.
- Pour brown butter into a small mixing bowl. Allow to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, beat in powdered sugar and maple syrup until smooth. Chill for about 15 minutes before glazing the cake if the glaze seems too thin.
- Melt butter in a medium skillet on medium heat. Add pecans. Cook, stirring frequently, until pecans become fragrant, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Add salt. Transfer to a plate. Allow to cool.
- To finish the cake, use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake. Sprinkle with salted pecans. Keep refrigerated.
- Makes 10 servings. Keep refrigerated.
To make the flan:
To complete the cake:
To make the glaze:
To make the salted pecans:
Notes
- If you use 1 pint of half and half, you will be just shy of the 3/4 cup needed for the flan layer. Add enough milk to make up the difference.
- My cake is done in 80 minutes in my oven. If your oven tends to cook fast, check your cake early.
- Two 6-cup capacity bundt pans may be used instead of the 10-inch bundt pan. Bake covered in the water bath for 45-55 minutes.
- The glaze should be thick and syrupy. The butter might be too cool if the consistency is frosting-like when powdered sugar is incorporated. Microwave for 8-10 seconds to loosen the butter before adding more sugar.
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oooh yum! my aunt used to make a magic flipping flan cake like this with chocolate cake and vanilla flan, but this pumpkin, maple and brown sugar version sounds much more interesting (;
It's no surprise that everyone went crazy for this cake; it looks sensational and I bet it tastes even better. I have tried to make an flan cake before, but totally failed! 🙁 Maybe it's time to try again with this recipe. I love the fall-time flavours in this one.
This is truly a beautiful dessert! I love the two layers and it looks so perfectly textured. Don't even get me started on that glaze!! Take care.
I 100% would join your husband and neighbor in cleaning up after this cake :). Holy cow! The flan layer is just perfect. Forget about pie on Thanksgiving this year–all I need is a few slices of this beauty!
What a hilarious story!! Haha I love the Friends analogy, totally made me laugh. I LOVE that flan layer. Such a creative idea!! Beautiful!
Thanks Heather! I love the chocolate version but this pumpkin version is perfect for fall. 🙂
Thank you Stacey! I thought about giving a jar of the glaze to my husband for a stocking stuffer this year. haha!
LOL! You would have made it triple the fun, Kelsie! I agree…move one pie, there's a new cake in town this year!!
I hope you try again Marie! It is such a beautiful site to see the two distinct layers after you unmold the cake. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!
Thanks for the love, Katherine! I'm a Friends fanatic. I think there is a Friends analogy for every situation in life ????
Oh, my, so beautiful! This is a killer dessert!!! I'd definitely join in and help make sure every drop of the glaze was consumed!!
Wow I didn't expect this beautiful cake hidden in the middle of the flan! So beautiful, I'm sure it's luscious 🙂
Haha…your post really sums up how delicious this cake is. It looks so pretty too with the beautiful and perfect layers. I would love to try this recipe out. Definitely saving ��
Thank you so much, Liz! Anytime you want to join in, I'll make extra glaze!!
Thank you! This is definitely a two-in-one cake.
I hope you will try it, Ashika! It's a keeper!
LOL!! I can actually picture your husband and neighbor eating this!! That visual is too funny, girl! But, I don't blame them for eating this like a ravenous animal! I mean, this is GORGEOUS! And the flavors sound just amazing! I need this in my life! Cheers!
Awwww, thanks Chey!! I watched feeding frenzy in disbelief and amusement! ????
Hello, Thao.
Desserts!!!! That pumpkin flan cake with maple brown butter glaze looks so fancy and yummy! I get it why your husband and friend love it. I am surely loving it from afar. Haha.
Thank you for admiring it from afar! 🙂
Amazing! This reminds of a time I went out to eat with my sister and her husband and kids. They ordered 1 flan dessert for everyone to share. When it came it was a flurry of eating! Needless to say I did not get any because I was not ready for the fight. This cake sounds so delicious though. The maple brown butter glaze just sounds SO GOOD!
Thanks Danielle. And LOL! It sounds like you might have had to fight to the death. It was probably best that you sat out on the flan fest 🙂
This cake looks delicious – perfect! I love all things flan, pumpkin & then you add brown butter into the mix. I can drink, guzzle and devour all things brown butter! This cake would definitely wow at any Thanksgiving dinner ♥
This cake sounds perfect your you, Amanda! I completely agree…brown butter is the best! We really should bottle it 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving!!
How many eggs? Oart of the recipe is hidden, Is it 2 cups of oil?
I'm so sorry you are experiencing difficulties seeing the recipe. I just checked and I am able to see it on different browsers and mobile. The recipe requires 2 eggs for the cake and 3 eggs for the flan. It also needs 1/2 cup of oil. I hope this helps.
these are my favorite to order out, but I have a sneaking suspicion they are more than 240 calories at a restaurant:glad i can make this at home now it would be a hit in our house definitely going to give it a try
I wouldn't call this a light dessert, but it's definitely worth the calories 🙂 I'm so glad you want to try this cake at home!! Hope it turns out well! Please let me know.
I know this is older but my goodness it's beautiful. Sounds like everyone found it tasty too. May have to try for Thanksgiving this year!
Thank you so much, Inger! I hope you’ll try it. I just made it for a family member last week, and he LOVED it 🙂
This looked interesting and sounded really yummy so I’m trying it for our Thanksgiving gathering with friends and family. It has been baking in the water bath 80 min. at 350 and I just checked it – it’s still SOUPY! The temp is correct so I’ll give it another 10-20 min. Strange that I don’t smell it either. Ok, the extra 10 min. seemed to do it. Now to wait an hour to turn it out🤞🏼
As it cooled, the middle of the ring sunk a bit, and after the full hour I turned it out onto a plate.
Well, I’m pretty disappointed and not sure I’ll be able to serve it.
It cracked/tore in several places, but it’ll stay together. It doesn’t have the nice high dome like in the photo and it doesn’t even appear that the flan portion actually sank to the bottom (or cake rose to the top) instead it seems like a homogenous, jiggly flattened ring!
I’m so sorry this cake did not turn out well for you, Barb! I know how frustrating it is to try a recipe and not get the result you expected. I’m unsure why the cake took so long to bake, did not separate, and sank. However, several factors can contribute to all this.
1) The oven temperature is not hot enough. This can happen when the oven is incorrectly calibrated and bakes at a lower temperature than indicated. It prevents the cake from rising properly.
2) The leavening is not fresh, which can cause the cake to not rise and sink.
3) Not using hot water for the water bath. This results in a longer baking time and a dense, underbaked cake.
When the cake does not rise properly, the cake layer is too dense and will prevent the flan layer from sinking to the bottom and separating from the cake layer.
Despite the cake setback, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I’m going to try it again and do think it might have been the fault of the baking powder being old. I have a new can now! Otherwise, I used the water bath to the right height on the Bundt pan and I have an oven thermometer that confirmed the temp was right and I’ve never had an issue with temp before.
I am so glad you are giving it another try, Barb!! I am keeping my fingers crossed that it works out this time! It’s truly a fantastic cake, and I hope you get to experience it the way I do.
There is one more tip I like to offer. Ifyou have problems with sticking while unmolding, set the bundt pan in hot water for a couple of minutes to help the cake release from the edges, then try to unmold.
Please let me know how the second cake turns out!