I decided to make a dedicated page for Mexican food. Where I live, the Netherlands, good Mexican food is hard to find, in both restaurants and shopping for ingredients. This page has information about sourced ingredients along with recipes that I like. Most of the recipes are copied from others (with links to the original) — I include them so I can show local substitutions and metric measurements.
Sourcing ingredients
Westland Peppers
https://shop.westlandpeppers.com
Tjin’s Toko
Good for masa harina, spices and sauces. https://www.tjinstoko.eu/en
Recipes
Chocoflan (Pastel Imposible or Impossible Cake)
I like this recipe from Rick Bayless because it includes metric measurements, uses more eggs for the flan, and does not include cream cheese as so many of them do. https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/chocoflan-aka-pastel-imposible-or-impossible-cake/. I also used this recipe because I wanted butter instead of oil: https://www.aspicyperspective.com/chocoflan-impossible-cake/. Most recipes call for a 10 or 12 cup capacity bundt pan. I only have an 8 cup bundt pan, so I made 4 1 cup ramekins along with it. The ramekins only need to cook about 45-50 minutes.
Ingredients
| For the pan: a few tablespoons softened butter 1 cup cajeta (store-bought or homemade) For the homemade Cajeta Envinada: https://www.maricruzavalos.com/mexican-caramel/ 4 ¼ cups Goat’s milk (or cow’s milk). I use 750 ml Betsie’s Geiten melk (goat milk), which was 3½ cups and then added another cup of whole milk to make a total of 4½ cups or 1 liter. 1 ½ cups granulated sugar ½ tsp baking soda ½ tsp vanilla extract (optional) 1 cinnamon stick 2 tablespoons spiced rum rum (or brandy) added at the end. For the cake: 1 1/3 cup (190 g) all-purpose flour 1cup sugar (200 g) 1/2cup (40 g) cocoa powder (one of the dark/black cocoa powders shines here) 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup buttermilk (3 tablespoons espresso/coffee) 1 egg 1/2 cup oil or 150 g softened butter. For the flan: In the end, I gave up with calculations for the sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk and used a measuring cup with: 1 125 g container Crème fraîche 1 397 g can Friesche Vlag sweetened condensed milk 1 250 ml slag room A few ounces of milk to equal a total of 3½ cups (28 ounces) of cream/milk. In total it made 4 cups – 32 ounces. I used a staff mixer for about 30 seconds on it and then let it sit to get the air bubbles out. 112 -ounce can sweetened condensed milk (La Lechera brand is very popular in Mexico) Note: 1 397 g can Friesche Vlag sweetened condensed milk (from Albert Heijn), which is 14 ounces when using a general fluid ounce conversion to gram (subtract 50 g to get 340 g = 12 ounces). When using a measuring cup 397 g is closer to 10 ounces. When using a specific conversion based on ingredient, 12 US fluid ounces of condensed milk equals 459 grams* https://www.howmany.wiki/vw/–one–oz–of–condensed-milk–in–gram 114 -ounce can evaporated milk Note: 250 ml slag room (8.45 ounces), which is a 35% somewhat heavy cream (from Albert Heijn). 14 ounces of heavy cream equals 390 milliliters*https://www.howmany.wiki/wv/–ml—-heavy+cream——ounce 1 teaspoon vanilla 4 eggs |
Instructions
Prepare the mold. Turn on the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit / 180° Celsius, and position the rack in the middle. Generously butter the inside of a 10-cup Bundt pan. Microwave the cajeta for 20 to 25 seconds just to soften it (not heat it), then drizzle it evenly over the bottom half of the pan, tilting the pan to coat everything evenly. (Don’t worry that most of it will eventually collect in the very bottom.) Set large pan of water over medium-low heat. Set out a deep pan that’s a little larger than your Bundt pan (a roasting pan works well) and deeper than 2 inches; this will serve as a water bath during baking.
Prepare the cake batter. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, baking powder and soda. In another bowl, whisk together the milk (or milk and coffee), egg and oil. Whisk the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients until the two are well blended. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, then smooth it on top.
Prepare the flan. In a blender, combine the two milks (scrape everything out of the sweetened condensed milk can), vanilla and the eggs. Blend just until the mixture is homogenous. Rap the blender jar gently on the countertop 6 or 8 times to expel air bubbles. Slowly and gently, pour the flan mixture over the cake batter. (I find it easiest to pour the mixture into a small ladle, letting it run over onto the batter; others prefer pouring it over a spoon.) Oil or butter a piece of foil and use it to cover (greased-side down) the pan, tamping it down all around the top edge to secure it.
Bake. Gently move the cake pan to the larger pan and pour hot water around the cake pan to a depth of 2 inches (no less). Carefully slide the whole assemblage into the oven. (Some people find it easiest to pull out the oven rack, set the cake pan in the large pan on it, pour in the water then slide the rack back in.) Bake about about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the surface of the cake is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out relatively clean. Remove from the water bath and cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Run a thin-bladed knife around the upper edges and center of the bundt pan to loosen the cake from the mold. It’s safest to unmold the chocoflan after it has chilled long enough to firm it, so I recommend refrigerating it for several hours or overnight.
Unmold and serve. Just to be sure nothing sticks, run your thin-bladed knife around the upper part of the bundt pan (don’t forget to do the center) for a second time. With the pan firmly on the countertop, jiggle it back and forth a few times until you see a slight movement in the cake. Invert a serving plate over the mold, then reverse the two. If the cake doesn’t drop immediately, give the mold a few raps until you hear it fall. Remove the mold. Scrape any cajeta remaining in mold over the chocoflan and you’re ready to cut and serve slices to guests who likely won’t know what a seemingly impossible thing happened while flan and batter were in the oven.