Caramel Cream Cheese Flan

Caramel Flan is a creamy custard with eggs, milk, vanilla and sugar baked in a water bath to create smooth, rich and elegant perfection to satisfy sweet tooth. Flan originated in Spain and got popular all over the world. Adding cream cheese in the flan is Puerto Rican version that gives a thicker yet melt in mouth texture. If you love cheesecakes then it's a must try. 

This is a very easy recipe with simple ingredients. It's gluten free and grain free. There is no need to make caramel in a different pan unless you are using a glass dish. I make caramel in the same baking pan and let it cool down to become solid; then I pour custard mixture in. Now I also skip the step of heating water separately. I just eye ball how much water I need for water bath and heat water in the oven while preheating the oven. 

Blending custard mixture can be tricky with cream cheese. To avoid lumps, blend cream cheese, vanilla and condensed milk together in a large bowl until smooth and creamy. In a different bowl whisk eggs first, next add evaporated milk and keep mixing until homogeneous, then slowly add to cheese mixture until well incorporated, resulting in a luscious and silky flan after baking for  an hour in a water bath. It tastes better at room temperature. Oh yes, it's simply irresistible! 

Decorating flan with seasonal fruits or serve just like that is totally up to you. I love to decorate all sorts of cakes. Use any fruits or other topping you like. Now varieties of oranges are in season and I have orange blossom in my back yard orange tree. So I just topped with some Mandarin orange slices and orange blossoms just to transform into a showstopper. This recipe serves 10-12. Lets get baking.

Ingredients~
1  8 oz. pack 1/3 less fat cream cheese 

5 large eggs
1 can 2% evaporated milk
1 can condensed milk
1/2 cup 2% milk
3 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup granulated sugar for the caramel

Method~
Sprinkle sugar evenly in a 8 inch baking pan over medium heat. Ware a oven mitt. Once sugar melts carefully swirl the pan to distribute even layer in the pan. After a few minutes later sugar will start to brown. Keep swirling the pan until entire sugar turns golden brown. Be careful not to burn it. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Fill a large roasting pot with at least 1 inch water and place in the oven. Blend cream cheese, vanilla, milk and condensed milk together in a large bowl with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy. In a different bowl whisk eggs one after another, next add evaporated milk and keep mixing until homogeneous, then slowly add to cheese mixture to combine until well incorporated. There shouldn't be any lump in the custard batter. 
Pour slowly onto the slightly hardened caramel in the pan.

Cover the pan with a aluminum foil and place the custard filled baking pan in the roasting pan on the 2nd rack from the bottom of the oven rack. Bake for an hour rotating half way through baking. Insert a knife or a wooden skewer into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let it cool, then refrigerate for 3-4 hours. Run a blunt knife around the edges of the flan and invert onto a plate. Enjoy this fantastic flan with your loved ones.  

Happy Baking!!