Flan de Queso (Cream Cheese Flan)

I was unusually quiet last week and that was because I was drowning in an ocean of flour, sugar and eggs.  I had been recruited to help make desserts for an event for about 120 guest.  I started baking on Monday and didn’t stop till Friday morning.

This week I will be posting the desserts that I made, and since most the baking took place well after the sun had set and in a flurry of flour, they will be accompanied with some poor photography.  Exhibit number 1 above.  However because I love you all and want to spread flan de queso love, heinous picture or not I am sharing this recipe with you.   This one will be flagged for a reshoot.

Flan is a very traditional Latin American dessert.  You will find it served in almost any Latin American restaurant.   There are more variations of flan then I can shake a stick at, all I hope will make an appearance on this site in due time, but today we are going to start with my favorite Flan de Queso.  Flan de Queso is basically a kind of cheesecake custard.  It should have the consistency and creaminess of a cheesecake.   It is one of my favorite desserts during Christmas and no party can be had with out a flan on the table.   I think it is written in stone somewhere.  “Thou shall not have Christmas party without flan”.  I am sure it is written somewhere.

Here are just a few tips when preparing a flan. First keep an eye on the sugar, burnt sugar on a flan is one of the most common mistakes.  Be patience don’t turn up the heat to make it melt faster, you will just make it burn.  Burnt sugar takes on a very bitter taste and even if the flan is perfect the caramel will kill it.   Second when prepareing this particular flan it is very imporant that the cream cheese be soften and creamed.  If you do not do either of these you may end up with lumpy pieces of cream cheese floating in your egg mixture.  When this happens all the cheese floats to the top (which is the bottom) and you end up with a thick layer of cheese and a unpleasant eggy taste.  So PLEASE, creamcheese soften and creamed!  Finally, be patient, let the flan cool and refrigerate it, this allows it to set and have a very creamy cheesecake texture.   

Print Recipe

Flan de Queso (Cream Cheese Flan)

Caramel

• 1 cup of sugar
• 4 Tbs of water

In a medium non-stick sauce pan, combine sugar and water and stir a couple of times. Heat over medium heat, without stirring, until the syrup melts and turns golden. You can swish it around once in a while.

The syrup will begin to bubble just before it’s ready. Allow it to bubble for a minute or so and then remove from heat.

Pour the caramel into a 9 inch round pan, coat the pan by slowly turning it and letting the syrup cover the bottom and sides.

Set pan aside, allow to sit for about 10 minutes or until the caramel hardens. 

Flan

• ½ cup sugar
• 1 – 8oz. package cream cheese, softened
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 8 eggs

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixer cream sugar and cream cheese together using a paddle attachement or use hand mixer. Add milks and vanilla and mix until well combined. Add eggs one at a time until well combined.

Carefully pour batter into prepared pan and bake in a “baño de Maria” (bain marie) for about 50 minutes or until golden. Test with a knife as you would a cake, it should come out clean.

Remove from oven, cool and refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Tagged as: cream cheese, Dessert, flan, queso