Flan is one of the most popular Latin American desserts. Yet, my personal favorite is Puerto Rican Flan de Queso! It’s the perfect hybrid of a classic caramel flan with the creamy texture of a cheesecake. It’s rich, velvety and the best of both worlds.
One Ingredient Caramel
Like any flan, this recipe starts with a simple caramel. Not to be confused for a traditional caramel sauce with heavy cream; this caramel is made with only one ingredient – white sugar. Before preparing this caramel, please make sure to follow these 2 important instructions:
- Do not stir the sugar, instead swirl it.
- Be patient. Keep the sugar on medium-low heat.
Start by adding the white sugar to a deep sauce pot on medium-low heat. As the sugar slowly melts, make sure to stay alert and watch the color. You may notice the sugar melting in clumps. This is common and should not worry you. To help the sugar melt evenly, swirl the pot and allow the liquid-sugar to cover the clumped sugar. After 6-10 minutes, the melted sugar should now resemble a dark amber color. Just like that, the caramel for this Puerto Rican Flan de Queso is done. Now, it is time to work quickly. Seriously – work quick!
Egg Custard
Creating the custard for the Puerto Rican Flan de Queso is a simple and quick process. The recipe includes: eggs, vanilla extract, condensed milk, evaporated milk and of course cream cheese. To ensure the smoothest texture, make sure all of the ingredients are room temperature. This prevents clumping in the custard.
Next, thoroughly mix the ingredients, either by hand or by using a blender. To ensure a smooth custard consistency, I like to pour the mixture into a fine-mesh strainer and gently separate the liquid from any leftover clumps. What is left should be the smoothest, silkiest liquid you have ever dreamed of.
Execution
If you worked quick enough, the caramel you prepared should still be warm and fluid. In a baking dish, first pour in the caramel (making sure it is a thin even layer). Then pour the custard on top. Similar to a cheesecake, this Puerto Rican Flan de Queso recipe is baked in a water bath. This step is crucial in thoroughly cooking the center of the flan without cracking or overbaking. The perfect Puerto Rican Flan de Queso has no film/skin on top. It also has a slight jiggle in the center.
The last steps of this recipe are the most time consuming because it’s all about waiting and cooling. After baking, it is important to first, remove the flan from the oven and cool it, while still in the water bath. This is a two hour step. After the initial two hours, remove the flan from the water bath and transfer it to the fridge for an overnight cooling. While these steps feel like an eternity, especially when you are hungry, they are necessary to achieve the perfect texture.
Fast forward to the next day, it is time to do the deed. The ever-so careful flan flip. Using a butter knife or thin spatula, gently trace the edges of the flan and create a separation from the baking dish. Consider this a preparation step, to ensure maximum looseness 😂 Now with the flan no longer gripping the edges, place a large flat plate on top of the baking dish and quickly invert the flan upside down. Ta-da!
To illustrate the final result, the Puerto Rican Flan de Queso should now be covered in a delicious liquid caramel sugar with a gold jiggly custard. Top it with a cherry and enjoy!
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Puerto Rican Flan de Queso – Cream Cheese Flan
Ingredients
- 1 (14 oz) can of condensed milk
- 1 (12 oz) can of evaporated milk
- 1 (8 oz) package of softened cream cheese
- 1 cup of white sugar
- 5 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees (F) and make sure all of your ingredients are room temperature. This is very important
- Heat a small sauce pan to medium-low heat, and add sugar (this will make your caramel sauce.)
- Allow sugar to slowly melt without stirring. Instead, swirl the melted sugar to ensure there are no clumps. This also allows the sugar to regulate its heat and not burn.
- While the sugar is melting, quickly prepare the flan custard by mixing the eggs, cans of milks, cream cheese and vanilla extract. You can mix by hand using a whisk or by using a blender.
- Mix until cream cheese is fully incorporated and smooth. If there are small clumps leftover, don’t worry.
- After 6-10 minutes, sugar should be fully melted and resemble a dark amber color. If so, turn off heat and pour the sugar into a round baking dish. Swirl to ensure even coverage.
- Still working quickly, to avoid the sugar from hardening, pour the flan custard through a mesh strainer to remove any access clumps.
- Add the strained custard on top of the warm sugar and place round baking dish into a water bath. Hot water should reach 1 inch up the side.
- Bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour or until flan is set and center is slightly jiggly.
- Once done, remove from oven and rest flan in water bath for 2 hours. Then remove round dish from water bath and cool overnight in fridge.
- To serve, place large plate on top of round dish, flip and enjoy!
