There are tons of different variations of flan. From pumpkin flan to mocha flan, flan de coco, chocolate, vanilla, cafe, etc.

I must say, however, this cream cheese flan has always been my all-time favorite! Flan de queso is the Puertorican version of traditional flan.

My Cuban aunt was the one to teach me to add just a touch of cream cheese to our traditional flan recipe for a super creamy texture. She always made it for Cuban Christmas too!

And now I’m sharing it with you!

I know a lot of people are intimidated by making flan but I promise it’s way easier than it looks!

What is Flan?

In case you haven’t heard, flan is the best dessert ever. Maybe I’m biased. I mean, I also do love tres leche cake and guava cheesecake which are made with similar ingredients.

Flan (or crème caramel, caramel pudding, or caramel custard) is a creamy baked Spanish custard dessert topped with caramel that is very popular in Latin America.

The caramel is actually cooked at the bottom of the pan while the custard is steam baked in a water bath (Bain-Marie or baño maria) until smooth and creamy.

P.S. As you can see in the photo below, I used a pie plate for this flan de queso recipe. This can and will work, however, you will have some of the milk mixture leftover (about 1/2 cup or so) which you can transfer into a ramekin or save for french toast. Ha!

I highly recommend using a 9-inch round cake pan instead of the pie plate for this recipe.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Just 6 ingredients. Sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, cream cheese, vanilla, and eggs. I love desserts with few ingredients that I can find in any grocery store.

• Creamy texture. Traditional flan is more custard-like but flan de queso is definitely more smooth, creamy, and slightly dense, thanks to the softened cream cheese. Trust me, you will LOVE it!

• Family-friendly & Crowd-favorite. Every time I’ve made flan for my family, I get 0 complaints and all the compliments. Whether you’re making this flan de queso for Noche Buena or a work potluck, it will be well-received!

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Granulated sugar. This is what you need to make that delicious caramel that goes on top.

• Sweetened condensed milk. This adds to the creamy texture and sweetness of the flan.

• Evaporated milk. This also adds to the rich, creamy texture because it has less water than using regular milk.

• Cream cheese. All you need is 2 ounces. I find that adding more than 2 ounces makes the flan way too dense. A little goes a long way! Also, make sure the cream cheese is softened at room temperature. If it’s too cold, you’ll end up with lumps in the mixture.

• Eggs. They incorporate better in the milk mixture when they are at room temp. If you have cold eggs, you can run them under warm water for a few minutes to bring them to room temp.

• Vanilla extract + salt. Flavor enhancers!

Step-By-Step Instructions

• Let’s make the caramel. In a saucepan, melt sugar over medium-high heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning until it turns an amber color. Don’t walk away. Sugar can burn so easily. Once you get liquid gold, remove it from the heat and pour the caramel into a 9-inch round cake pan, moving it around to coat the bottom of the pan.

• Make the milk mixture. Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a high-speed blender, add sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, softened cream cheese (make sure it is room temperature!), room temperature eggs, vanilla, and salt. Blend until smooth. Pour the milk mixture over the set caramel in the round pan.

• Make the water bath. Place the round pan in a large roasting pan. Carefully fill the roasting pan with about 2 inches of hot water.

• Bake until set. You’re going to bake the flan for 45-50 minutes until the center is just set. If the outer rims look set but the middle jiggles when you gently shake the pan, the flan is done. You will be tempted to continue to bake it but then you run the risk of it getting a rubbery texture.

• Chill the flan. Carefully remove the pan from the water bath and allow it to cool for 30 minutes at room temperature. Place it fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight so the flan can be fully set.

• Flip the flan. Remove the pan from the fridge. Run a knife around the sides of the round pan to slightly loosen the flan. Place a large plate on top of the round pan and invert the pan (flip it over) so the flan transfers onto a large plate.

Make Ahead Instructions

You can make this flan up to 24 hours in advance, bake it, and store it in the fridge. Don’t flip it until you’re ready to serve. All I would recommend is to wrap the pan tightly in plastic wrap.

Recipe Tips & Tricks

• Use 5 eggs minimum. Most flan recipes are made with 4-8 eggs however I find the sweet spot for the perfect silky, custardy texture is 5 eggs. Any more than that results in an eggy-flavored flan. No, thank you.

• Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature. They will incorporate better with all the ingredients for the custard. Planning ahead of time helps with this!

• Don’t overmix the milk mixture and use exact measurements. I once added too much cream cheese and the flan came out way too dense. Also, you want to make sure you blend your ingredients until smooth.

• Make the caramel carefully. I feel like the caramel just knows when you’re not paying attention so don’t walk away while you’re making it. I swear sugar is so fickle and it can burn from one second to the next. Stir constantly to prevent it from burning and as soon as it turns an amber color, remove it from the heat.

• Don’t overbake the flan. If your baking time is too long or the baking temperature is too high, it could result in the custard boiling and overcooking. This brings me to my next tip…

• Use a water bath. Just like cheesecakes, a water bath adds moisture to the oven helping flans cook more evenly without letting the eggs curdle or without resulting in the custard having a rubbery texture. Don’t skip this step!

When is the flan done? How do you know when the flan is ready?

If the outer rims look set but the middle jiggles like Jello-O when you gently shake the pan, the flan is done. The outer rim of the flan should feel firm to the touch while the center is jiggly, not liquidy, and smooth.

If it is watery meaning it is not jiggly but liquidy, you can continue the flan to bake for 5-10 minutes until no longer liquidy. Remember jiggly is OK. It’s what we want! Careful not to overbake or you run the risk of it getting a rubbery texture.

It is actually better to slightly undercook than overcook since the flan will continue to set as it cools at room temperature. The rest of the ‘setting’ or ‘cooking’ process continues in the fridge as it chills.

Storage Tips

You can leave the flan in the same plate you transferred it to for 1 day covered with aluminum foil however you definitely want to eventually store it in an airtight container to avoid it from spoiling. It lasts about 5 days in the fridge in an airtight container.

If you have a bunch of caramel left over in the pan after you flip over the flan, you can transfer it to a jar and use it to top each individual slice of flan as you serve it.