Mixteadas / Combined, in the sense that two individually delectable explosions can be fused into one utterly, undeniably, delicious, hyper-concoction that all at once can elate every single one of the senses. Well maybe that’s a little bit of a stretch, but it’s honestly what comes to mind when I think about the choco-flan cake we had for my wife’s birthday this weekend.
Yes, you guessed right: chocolate bread crust, about an inch and a half high, topped with about three more inches of almost velvety smooth flan.
Don’t ask me how they did it…I haven’t a clue, but since the first time my sister in law introduced me to this delicious hybrid of Latino dessert cuisine all I could think wasman tres leches ain’t got nothing on this! And so as soon as we decided we we’re getting a cake I knew exactly what we were getting…she wanted it too of course, I think. Which made me start thinking about all the other crazy food combinations we come up with.
In our house, the fact that we ate what we had growing up, or we weren’t really hungry as my parents would say, made the whole mixing and matching of flavors much more normal. That, and the simple truth we are mexicanos de rancho, campesinos really…even ifde estelado.
So let’s see, there is the fruta con chile, roasted corn with mayonnaise and the works, snow cones with syrup and chamoy, popcorn with Tabasco, and Tabasco with everything else (a personal favorite of mine sometimes substituted with Cholula, Valentina, or Louisiana salsas), hamburgers with actual ham and cheese inside them, along with avocado strips, jalapeños and pickled carrots, tortillas with pretty much anything imaginable inside them – tortilla dogs, need I say more – and so many other appetizing combinations that I could go on and on about, including my personal invention: the regular old run of the mill deli meat sandwich, complete with crumpled up layers of chips inside to give it that extra crunch and kick that tastes oh so very delicious!
No, it’s really not just a Mexican or Latino thing…eatable hyper-concoctions are universal, and they almost always taste delightful. ¡Provecho!
Took Me A Minute, But Here Is The Recipe
The credit for how to make this tasty treat goes all to mi querida amiga de Facebook, Juanita Cruz, who took it upon herself to share this recipe. Gracias! And now, without further ado…la receta she sent me:
6 eggs
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
1 can of sweet condensed milk
1 can of evaporated milk
pinch of salt