The Failed Flan Cake...there will be a rematch!

i was soooo looking forward to this dessert.  i've had it in my "to-do drawer" for months.  yesterday i finally felt in the mood for the challenge.  i had it all planned out.  Dad would LOVE it!...friends and family would devour it and ask for more!...i could make a chocolate one next "The Coco Flan"...mmm...YUM!...i would take BEAUTIFUL pictures of it...whole, in all it glory, sliced..the perfect wedge or maybe just the perfect  bite on a beautiful silver fork...and all timed just right for the "magic hour"...

the recipe sounded easy enough, although i had my doubts... 3 cans of milk, 3 whole eggs AND a whole cake mix into ONE bundt pan?  the worst i thought could happen was  little over-flow into the baine marie.

nope...no problem there.  everything looked great out of the oven.  the cake part looked perfect and golden brown.  

great...all i had to do was wait for it to cool, then into the fridge and wait for it to "set up"...

WELL,...SET UP ?... IT DID NOT !!!

i was so excited to unleash this masterpiece that i enlisted my mother to come in and witness the event.  thank goodness i did.  i flipped the cake over onto the cake dish with no problem.  i heard the ever so lovely sound that one hears when the cake has properly released itself from the pan.  here, i was worried that it was gonna stick....

i wish i could have had the camera ready for what happened next... 

a TSUNAMI OF UN-COOKED...UN-SET, UN-DONE sploosh of eggs, evaporated and condensed milk.  the cake plopped down on the plate and the milky mixture proceeded to run out all over.  dish towels came flying out of nowhere in a failed attempt to stop the wave of sticky mush.  panic set in...it was heading for the floor.  i quickly moved the whole monstrosity to the sink and let her rip.  not only was this a total visual horror, but it was absolutely a gooey INEDIBLE mess. 

i've had miss-haps before, but usually it can be saved in some way.  i hate to waste things and this puppy wasn't really cheep.  not that it broke the bank or anything, but i did drive all the way to my favorite Mexican market in Santa Ana to get the proper caramel,  Cajeta de Leche...AND out in the pouring rain to get the stupid cake mix AND to another market because i only had 1 can of evaporated milk.

so...any one out there feel me ???!!!

i know as bakers and cooks we all have our bad days, but this one was a doozer...a total let-down.  luckily i had something else brewing on the stove that came out better than fabulous...an unexpected delicious savory something.  sometimes "savory saves the day".  i made some Caldo de Cameron.  who knew some dried up old salty shrimp would upstage the fabulous dessert i had planned ???  this authentic Mexican soup totally made up for my cake disaster.  i'll post about it as soon as possible because it's a new favorite.

 SO...as you can see in the photo below, the whole thing ended up in a big baggie and was quickly and quietly taken to the garage where it would hopefully be forgotten...

well...i have not forgotten and 

I WANT A REMATCH !!!

this cake will not win!  i WILL attempt this cake again!

by the way...no fault to the original poster on this one...i know i had to be at fault here some how...

the recipe i followed can be found HERE.  

maybe my baine marie wasn't hot enough?...maybe it should have been in longer?...maybe the milks should have been pre-heated?...who knows, but i think i'll try a different recipe next time...

and there WILL be a next time!