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This chocolate flan is rich, velvety, and perfect for the biggest chocolate lovers. Made with simple ingredients and baked in a water bath, it’s a creamy, dreamy dessert that’s definitely worth the effort.
If there’s flan around, you better believe I’m grabbing a slice. It’s one of those desserts I’ll always say yes to – rich, creamy, and totally worth the effort. Whether it’s my classic flan, super easy flan de queso (aka cream cheese flan), or layered chocoflan, I’m all in.
That said, flan can be kind of high-maintenance. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes (like watery middles, weird textures, straight-up burnt sugar situations), but each time, I’ve picked up a little trick to make the next batch better. So if you’ve had flan flops before, don’t worry. I’ve got you.
This version is ALL ABOUT THE CHOCOLATE. It’s smooth, decadent, rich, and has the most velvety texture that’s truly the best. If you’re a chocolate lover, this one is for you.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here’s a quick look at what goes into this chocolate flan recipe and why it works. The full recipe is down below in the recipe card.
- Eggs: The main ingredient in any flan recipe. Don’t overmix them as that can introduce too much air and won’t give your flan that creamy and velvety texture it needs.
- Sweetened condensed milk: For sweetness and that classic flan texture.
- Whole milk + heavy cream: Warm these up to melt the chocolate into a luscious mix. If you need to use a substitute, use evaporated milk in place of both the milk and heavy cream.
- Bittersweet chocolate chips + cocoa powder: This combination gives the flan its rich, chocolatey flavor.
- Boiling water: Flan is cooked using a water bath for a gentle method of baking. The water bath or “bain-marie” is a method of cooking that gently warms the dish, helping to stop it from overcooking and immediately scrambling in the oven.
How to Make Chocolate Flan
Make the caramel. Pour the sugar into a skillet or small pot over medium heat. Stir, stir, stir until it melts into a golden syrup. This takes patience, so don’t walk away! Pour it into a 9-inch round cake pan and give it a swirl to coat the bottom evenly, then set it aside to harden.
Make the chocolate flan mixture. Heat the milk, cream, chocolate chips, and cocoa powder together until melted and smooth. Then pour it into a bowl with the sweetened condensed milk and stir to combine.
Add in the eggs. Slowly pour them into the chocolate mix and whisk gently so you don’t create too many air bubbles.
Assemble and bake. Pour the flan mixture on top of the hardened caramel, then cover the cake pan with foil and set it in a larger roasting pan. Pour boiling water in the roasting pan until it comes halfway up the sides of the cake pan and bake.
Cool and serve. Let it sit at room temp for 1 hour, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours (overnight is even better). Run a knife along the edges, place a plate on top, and flip quickly but confidently. Lift the pan and serve.
Troubleshooting Tips
- My flan is watery. If the edges of the flan are set but the middle is still very watery, the flan needs more baking time. Bake in 5-minute increments until the middle is jiggly like jello, but not fully set. It will continue to set as it cools.
- My flan won’t come off the mold. Quickly flip it back and place it in a large baking dish with warm water for 10 minutes to gently melt the caramel and allow the flan to loosen up.
- My flan is fluffy. Flan should be creamy and velvety smooth. If it’s fluffy and bordering the line of scrambled eggs, that means it was baked for too long or at too high of temperature. If your oven runs hot, reduce your oven temperature to 300℉.
- My flan has lots of tiny holes. If your flan has lots of tiny holes, that means too much air was introduced into the mixture, creating air bubbles. Whisking too harshly or overbeating the eggs can give you this result. If you see lots of bubbles in your flan mixture before baking, gently tap the container against a table to bring them to the surface and pop them.
More Chocolate Desserts
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below! I love hearing about your experience, and it also helps others.
Chocolate Flan
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 ½ cups bittersweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4-6 cups boiling water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Make the caramel sauce. Pour the sugar into a medium skillet or saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. The sugar will start to clump together and turn a light brown color. Continue stirring until it has fully melted into a syrup-like consistency and reaches a golden brown color, creating a caramel.
- Working quickly, take the caramel off the heat and pour it into a 9-inch round cake pan, evenly coating the bottom and sides of the pan. Set the pan aside to allow the caramel to harden.
- Make the chocolate flan mixture. Whisk the eggs together in a medium bowl until fully combined. Set aside. In a separate large bowl, pour in the sweetened condensed milk and set aside.
- Heat the milk and heavy cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat until scalding, about 175°F, making sure to stir occasionally. Remove from the heat and whisk in the bittersweet chocolate chips and cocoa powder until everything is fully combined.
- Carefully pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl of sweetened condensed milk. Whisk until fully combined.
- Slowly pour the beaten egg mixture into the chocolate mixture and whisk slowly until the eggs are fully incorporated. Whisk gently to reduce the number of air bubbles in the flan.
- Once the caramel has hardened, pour the chocolate flan mixture into the cake pan. Cover with aluminum foil and carefully place it in the middle of a large roasting pan or baking dish.
- Prepare a water bath for the flan by pouring 4-6 cups of boiling water into the roasting pan so that it reaches halfway up the cake pan.
- Carefully place the roasting pan in the center rack of the oven and bake for 1 hour.
- Remove the baking dish from the oven and take the cake pan out of the water bath. Remove the aluminum foil and check to make sure the flan is fully cooked. The flan should be slightly jiggly, like jello. If the middle of the flan is still liquidy, bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.
- Allow the flan to cool at room temperature for 1 hour before refrigerating for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
- To serve, slide a knife along the edges of the pan to loosen up the flan. Place a plate on top of the flan, grab hold of both the plate and the pan, and quickly flip it over so that the flan is now upside down. Carefully lift off the cake pan. Your flan should be sitting in the caramel on the plate.
- Slice the flan and serve with the rich caramel sauce.
Notes
- Let it cool. The longer the flan has to set in the fridge, the better the flavor and consistency. Refrigerating it overnight is preferred, but it needs a minimum of 4 hours.
- If the flan does not immediately come out of the pan when flipped over, quickly flip it back and place it in a large baking dish with warm water to gently melt the caramel and allow the flan to loosen up.
- If you have some leftover caramel on the bottom of the pan after it’s flipped, you can also place the baking pan into a larger pan with warm water to help melt the leftover caramel and pour any extra on top of the flan.
- Garnishes: You can garnish your chocolate flan with anything from fresh berries, chocolate shavings, or chopped nuts like almonds or pecans.
- Storage: Cover leftovers with plastic wrap or store individual slices in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. Freezing is not recommended.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photography by Ashley McLaughlin.
