I can sense your confusion: “What’s a Bread ‘Flan’ Cake?!” Hold on there, an explanation is coming.
But first… Happy New Year!
I know we’re late; you can blame this on my telephone company — you know which one, don’t you? I didn’t have internet for several days, and couldn’t finish the recipe and video on time. I also wish them a great year, one in which they finally figure out how to deliver more than the mediocre service we get.
That felt better. Letting it all out is my no. 1 New Year resolution.
Back to what a Bread “Flan” Cake is: That’s what happens when I get creative with naming recipes to avoid angering Google, our lord and master. This should actually be called a Bread Pudding, which technically it is, but we already have a recipe for Bread Pudding, the traditional Dominican kind, and I don’t want to confuse the search engines with more than one option.
And if you find our site because you were searching for a Bread Pudding, I’d rather you started with the very popular traditional one.
This one is different from that other one.
For this recipe I found inspiration in our traditional bread pudding, also from the bread pudding that some people make that is closer to this one, and a bit from the myriad Christmas fruit cakes that contain alcohol. And a bit from flan too.
The result is a cake that is more moist than the traditional Pudín de Pan, with a subtle taste of rum (you’d need several cakes to get buzzed), and the contrasting texture of the fruit and flavor of the slightly bitter caramel. I have to warn you not to expect a super-sweet cake; I went with my preferred level of sweetness, which I find sufficient, but lower than most traditional Dominican cakes. It goes great with coffee or tea.
So how has the year started for you? Any resolutions for the new year?
Buen provecho!
Aunt Clara
- 1/2 cup [90 g] assorted dry fruits , chopped
- 1/4 cup [59 ml] golden Dominican rum
- 2 eggs [134 g]
- 1/2 cup [130 g] of sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon [1.5 g] cinnamon powder
- 2 cups [470 ml] of milk (full fat)
- 6 cups [185 g] of diced milk bread
- 1/2 cup [65 g] of sugar
- 1/4 cup [59 ml] of water
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Infuse fruit in rum: Mix fruit and rum, let it sit overnight in the refrigerator (or 8 hours). When it's time to make the pudding separate the fruit from the rum and set both aside to use later in the preparation.
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Prepare pudding mixture: Crack eggs into a bowl. Add sugar and whisk until it is well mixed and a slightly lighter color. Pour in milk followed by the cinnamon and mix well. Add the bread and stir until all of the bread has soaked some of the liquid. Cover and let it rest in the refrigerator for an hour.
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Prepare baking pan: Mix water and sugar for the caramel in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until it turns into a golden color. Remove from the heat and immediately pour into a baking pan (see notes). Make sure to use a holder to grab the pan, as it will be very hot. Coat the pan with the caramel, working quickly before the caramel sets. Once the caramel has hardened, cover the bottom of the pan with the fruit.
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Preheat oven: Heat oven to 300 ºF [150 C].
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Making the pudding: Spoon the pudding mixture into the baking pan, making sure not to disturb the caramel or fruits. Cover the pan very tightly with the pudding with aluminum foil.
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Cook and serve: Bake in bain-marie (hot water bath) for an hour. Remove from the oven and separate the edge from the pan with a toothpick. Let the pudding cool to room temperature and place on a serving plate. Serve at room temperature.
I used this 6-cup bundt cake pan (affiliate link), you can use a similar-sized one.
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