Fruit Topped Cream Cheese Flan and Caramel Sauce
Mexican flan is a sweet, creamy custard dessert smothered in a rich caramel sauce. Also known as crème caramel, flan is a favorite throughout Mexico, Latin America and Spain, along with other much-loved desserts like tres leches cake and arroz con leche.
Flan Napolitano is made with cream cheese, giving it a richer consistency than other flans. One bite and you’re sure to move it to the top of your Mexican dessert list.
What to Expect from This Traditional Flan Recipe
Flan Napolitano is an egg-based dessert made with few ingredients: sugar, eggs, cream cheese, condensed and evaporated milks, and vanilla. It has a velvety, silky texture similar to cheesecake. The light, milky custard and toasted sugar tastes are most like creme brûlée. Flan is an elegant dessert that’s simple to pull together, even if it’s your first time making it.
Such a beautiful dessert. I wish every day could be flan day! Now let’s make some flan!
Pastry Chef Eli Pérez Shows You How to Make Flan
Our authentic recipe for Flan Napolitano was contributed by Pastry Chef Eli Pérez, owner of Casa Marietta Repostería in Moroleón, Guanajuato.
Ingredients
For the Flan
- ¾ cup sugar
- 7 large whole eggs
- 5 ½ ozs. cream cheese
- 16 ozs. sweetened condensed milk
- 22 ozs. evaporated milk
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cup water + more if needed (for hot water bath)
For the Garnish
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Star fruit (Carambola)
Making flan is much easier than you might think. Let’s give it a try!
Making the Caramel Sauce
Preheating Your Baking Pan
Before you get started, place a round, deep 8 ½ or 9 inch baking pan in a warm oven. Note that a standard cake pan is likely too shallow to fit this recipe. Working with a warm pan will make it easier to swirl the caramel sauce, as the sauce hardens quickly.
Carmelizing the Sugar
Place a pot over medium or medium-high heat and pour in half the sugar. You don’t want to burn the sugar, so if it’s melting too quickly, reduce to low heat and continue.
Keep the sugar moving constantly by shaking the pan. You can also use a spatula to stir, but be aware that your sugar could get clumpy as you stir. Be patient and let the sugar melt as you move it. If it begins to harden, keep it on the heat so it stays liquid.
Add the remaining sugar.
Continue stirring constantly as the sugar melts.
When the caramel sauce is ready, the sugar will turn an amber color. Be sure not to let it get too dark.
Place your warm baking pan on a wire rack and pour the caramel sauce into the pan, scraping the sides of the pot with a spatula.
Use an oven mitt or kitchen towel to pick up the pan and swiftly tilt and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan with the caramel sauce. Remember, the sauce will harden quickly, so you don’t have a lot of time.
Here you can see how nicely the caramel sauce has hardened in the pan.
Preparing the Flan Mixture
Preheat the oven to 356 F. Crack all of the eggs into your blender.
Add the vanilla.
Scrape the cream cheese into the blender.
Pour in the evaporated milk.
Pour in the sweetened condensed milk.
Blend on high speed until smooth and homogenous, about one minute.
Pour the blended flan mixture into a large bowl.
Now you’re ready to pour the mixture on top of the hardened caramel in your baking pan. Look how smooth and shiny that caramel is!
Pour the flan mixture over the hardened caramel.
Almost full!
Cover the pan with aluminum foil.
Crimp the edges for a good seal. If you’d rather make individual servings of flan, you could complete these steps using ramekins instead of a baking pan.
Preparing the Hot Water Bath for Baking the Flan
Make a baine-marie, or hot water bath by placing a large, deep rectangular baking dish or roasting pan on top of a baking sheet. In Spanish we call this baño maria and it’s used to prevent the flan from overcooking, while keeping the texture smooth and creamy.
Place the flan into the center of the baking dish and pour about an inch of hot water around the flan pan.
Baking the Flan
Carefully place the baking sheet, roasting pan and flan into the oven and bake at 356 F for about an hour and a half or until a sharp knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cooling the Flan Overnight
Once baked, let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight.
Plating the Flan
The next morning, take the flan out of the refrigerator and uncover. Make another hot water bath on the stove by heating up about an inch of water and placing the flan pan into the larger pot on the stove.
After a few minutes, use a straight knife to loosen the edges of the flan.
Use a kitchen towel, tongs or oven mitts to remove the flan pan from the hot water bath.
Carefully place the baking dish on a wire rack. Now you’re ready to put your flan on a plate.
Place the flan baking pan top of a kitchen towel. Then, cover the baking pan with a serving plate, bottom side up.
Carefully invert the cake onto the serving dish.
Give the pan a slight jiggle to loosen the flan.
Once the flan loosens from the pan, you’ll see the caramel sauce spill over the sides and onto your plate. I can taste it already!
Look at that color and texture! Now you’re ready to decorate.
Topping with Fruit
Gather your berries, star fruit or other garnish.
Carefully make a ring around the border of the flan by placing the fruit in a repeating pattern on the top of the flan.
It’s almost too pretty to eat!
Here you can really see how that gooey caramel sauce pools at the bottom of the plate. Perfect for scooping on top of your slice of flan.
Serving – The Best Part
Storage
Enjoy your oh-so-scrumptious Flan Napolitano!
Traditional Mexican Flan Napolitano
Equipment
- 8 ½ – 9 inch round, deep baking pan
- Blender
- Sauce pan
- Silicone spatula
- Sharp knife
- Large mixing bowl
- Small mixing bowls
- Aluminum foil
- Baking sheet
- Large rectangular baking dish or roasting pan
- Wire Rack
- Kitchen towel
Ingredients
Flan
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 7 large whole eggs
- 5 ½ ozs. cream cheese
- 16 ozs. sweetened condensed milk
- 22 ozs. evaporated milk
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cup water + more if needed (for hot water bath)
Garnish
- Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, star fruit
Instructions
Make the Caramel Sauce
- Warm up your round baking pan so it’s easier to swirl the caramel sauce, as the sauce hardens quickly.
- Place a pot over medium to medium-high heat and pour in half the sugar. You don’t want to burn the sugar, so if it melts too quickly, reduce to low heat.
- Keep the sugar moving constantly by shaking the pan. You can also use a spatula to stir. If the sugar starts to clump, keep it on the heat and keep it moving so it stays liquid.
- Add the remaining sugar to the pot and shake or stir the sugar continuously. When the caramel sauce is ready, the sugar will turn an amber color. Be sure not to let it get too dark.
- Place the warm baking pan on a wire rack and pour the caramel sauce into the pan, scraping the sides of the pot with a spatula.
- Use an oven mitt or kitchen towel to pick up the pan and swiftly tilt and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan with the caramel sauce. The sauce will harden quickly.
Make the Flan
- Preheat the oven to 356 F.
- Crack all of the eggs into your blender.
- Add the vanilla, cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk to the blender.
- Blend on high speed until smooth and homogenous, about one minute.
- Pour the flan mixture into a large bowl.
- Next, pour the flan mixture over the hardened caramel and cover the pan with aluminum foil, crimping the edges for a good seal.
- Make a baño maria, or hot water bath by placing a large, deep rectangular baking dish or roasting pan on top of a baking sheet. This will prevent the flan from overcooking, while keeping the texture smooth and creamy.
- Place the flan in the center of the baking dish and pour about an inch of hot water around the flan pan. Carefully place the baking sheet, roasting pan and flan into the oven and bake at 356 F for about an hour and a half or until a sharp knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Once baked, remove from the oven, let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight.
Prepare to Serve
- The next day, remove the flan from the refrigerator and uncover.
- Make another hot water bath on the stove by heating up about an inch of water and placing the flan pan into the larger pot on the stove.
- After a few minutes, use a straight knife to loosen the edges of the flan. Then use a kitchen towel or oven mitts to remove the flan pan from the hot water bath
- Carefully place the baking dish on a wire rack as you gather your serving plate.
- Place your flan on a kitchen towel and cover the pan with a serving dish, bottom up.
- Placing one hand under the towel, and the other on top of the serving dish, carefully invert the flan onto the dish.
- Give the pan a slight jiggle to loosen the flan as you slowly separate the pan from the flan. The caramel sauce will spill over the sides of the flan leaving a nice pool of sweetness in the plate.
Decorate and Serve Your Flan
- Gather your fruit garnishes like strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and star fruit.
- Carefully make a ring around the border of the flan by placing the fruit in a repeating pattern on the top of the flan.
- Slice as you would a cake to serve. Cover and refrigerate any leftovers.
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