Instant Pot Pumpkin Flan Cake Recipe

October 10, 2018Van
Blog post

Prep time: 13 minutes

Cook time: 23 minutes

Serves: 6

My family loves it when I make Chocolate Flan Cake (recipe here), so I created an alternate version for my favorite season, Pumpkin Flan Cake. It’s creamy flan on top of a moist pumpkin cake with a caramel topping – absolutely delicious. When you put the cake together, you place the pumpkin cake batter on the bottom of the pan and you pour the flan mixture on top, when it’s done baking, the two layers switch places, so this “magic” is how it got the name Impossible Cake.

I tried looking for a pan that fit into the Instant Pot in several stores, but I couldn’t find one small enough – so I ended up ordering a 7 Inch Bundt Pan on Amazon that fits in the 6 Qt and 8 Qt Instant Pot (link here) and it works perfectly for this recipe.

Instant Pot Pumpkin Flan Cake Recipe

Click here to purchase this bundt pan on Amazon.

Instant Pot Pumpkin Flan Cake Recipe Instant Pot Pumpkin Flan Cake Recipe

If you use your Instant Pot on the counter under your cabinets, this is an awesome accessory that diverts the steam downward and away from your cabinets (purchase here)

Be sure to click on the accessories list below to get the most out of your Instant Pot.
Best Instant Pot Accessories List

Print Recipe

Instant Pot Pumpkin Flan Cake Recipe

  • Prep time: 13 minutes
  • Cook time: 23 minutes
  • Serves: 6

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Ingredients

Flan

  • 1 Cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
  • ½ Cup Half and Half
  • ¼ Cup Cream Cheese
  • 1 Large Egg
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Pumpkin Cake

  • ½ Cup Canned Pumpkin
  • ½ Cup Granulated Sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 1 Large Egg
  • ½ Cup All Purpose Flour
  • ½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
  • ¾ Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • ¾ Teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice, , or substitute with Ground Cinnamon
  • 3 Tablespoons Caramel Sauce (store bought)
  • 1-2 Teaspoons Butter, to coat the bundt pan

Method

  • 1)

    Prepare your 7 inch metal bundt pan (purchase here) by coating the entire interior of the bundt pan very well with butter, use your hands/fingers to get the butter into all the grooves of the pan.  You want a very generous coating. (A bundt pan is necessary for this recipe, don’t use a springform or regular pan – it will not cook evenly)

  • 2)

    Pour 3 Tablespoons of Caramel Sauce into the bottom of your bundt pan, if the caramel sauce is thick, microwave it for 5-10 seconds so it’s pourable. (I used Trader Joe’s Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce)

  • 3)

    Prepare the flan mixture by placing ½ Cup of Half and Half, 1 Cup of Sweetened Condensed Milk, 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract and ¼ Cup of Cream Cheese into your blender, blend on medium until it looks blended and there are no cream cheese pieces floating around – usually takes 30-60 seconds. Add 1 Large Egg and blend on low just until the eggs are blended in and the mixture looks smooth and set aside. (*Optional: You can strain this mixture if you want extra smooth flan)

  • 4)

    Add ½ Cup of All Purpose Flour, ¾ Teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice, ¾ Teaspoon of Baking Powder and ½ Teaspoon of Baking Soda into a bowl and whisk well and set aside.

  • 5)

    In a separate large bowl, add ½ Cup Canned Pumpkin, 3 Tablespoons of Vegetable Oil, ½ Cup of Sugar, 1 Large Egg, 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract – stir well with a whisk until the mixture looks smooth. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

  • 6)

    Pour the pumpkin cake batter into the bundt pan. Slowly pour the flan mixture on top of the cake batter, don’t worry if it looks like some of the cake batter got into the flan. Cover the top of the bundt pan well with a piece of foil.

  • 7)

    Place 1 Cup of Water into your Instant Pot and place your trivet in it. Carefully place the bundt pan on top of the trivet and seal the Instant Pot lid. Switch the knob to Sealing and set the Instant Pot for High Pressure / Manual for 23 Minutes. When the timer is up, wait 10 minutes while it releases the pressure naturally, then switch the knob to Venting to release the rest of the steam.  When the pin drops, open the lid.

  • 8)

    Carefully remove the bundt pan from the Instant Pot, I just used the trivet handles and lifted it out with the trivet. Remove the foil and let it cool on the counter for about 60 minutes. The cake needs to be removed from the pan before you refrigerate it. Place a large plate on top of the bundt pan, then holding the plate and pan securely together, flip it over and the flan cake should slide out easily onto the plate.

  • 9)

    Refrigerate it for 2 hours. You can garnish the top of the cake with chopped walnuts if you prefer and serve the slices with a large dollop of whipped cream. Enjoy!

↓ Supplies to make this recipe ↓













4 Comments

  • Patricia

    October 11, 2019 at 9:20 am

    I made this recipe w/o any modifications. The cake was delicious, but resulted in twice as much cake as shown in your photo. The flan layer was thin, so was the caramel sauce layer. Wondering whether my altitude of 8700′ caused the cake to rise more? Still, very thin layer of flan was disappointing. Any advice? Thanks.

    1. Van

      October 30, 2019 at 1:27 pm

      Hi Patricia, I’m not completely sure why the layer was so thin. Sounds like the flan is mixing into the cake instead of separating. It’s possible that your altitude can change the cake.

  • Janice

    May 5, 2020 at 6:43 pm

    So does the cake rise above the flan? I add the caramel, then the cake then flan mixture on top? Is that correct? Yes, this recipe makes enough for 2 batches in a 7″ bundt. Mine is cooking as I type.. I hope I did this right by pouring the cake in first on top of the caramel and then the flan…

    1. Van

      May 6, 2020 at 3:55 pm

      Hi Janice, yes the cake rises above the flan, if you read the short write up above the recipe I actually talk about how the cake switches layers.

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