Creamy Caramel Flan #BakingBloggers

Welcome to #BakingBloggers! Sue of Palatable Pastime and Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm have brought together some of their blogger friends to create #BakingBloggers - every month we have a general theme (such as pies, muffins, cakes, etc.) and we get to share any recipe we'd like. 

This month, our theme is Mexican baking. I used this opportunity to finally bake something that's been on my "to try" list for quite some time. I've even had the ingredients on my counter but ended up putting them all away - probably because I had too many baking projects already going on in my kitchen!

This dessert is absolutely stunning and wasn't nearly as intimidating as I was afraid it would be! The biggest piece is getting that caramelized sugar right. This is definitely company worthy, and perfect for preparing the night before you want to serve it and just keeping refrigerated until ready to plate. That gorgeous caramel topping and smooth silky flan - it's perfection!

Baking Bloggers (April 2021): Baking of Mexico

• Baked Pork Enchilada Salsa Verde Casserole from Sneha's Recipe
• Bolillos from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Capirotada de Leche from Palatable Pastime
• Cheesy Corn Dip from Magical Ingredients
• Chicken Chili Tortilla Casserole from Food Lust People Love
• Creamy Caramel Flan from Making Miracles
• Mexican Chicken Bake (DASH Friendly) from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Tacos De Jocoqui (Sour Cream Tacos) from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Telera Rolls from Karen's Kitchen Stories

Creamy Caramel Flan

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

5 large eggs (room temperature)

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Have a 2-quart round baking dish (or I used a 9" round cake pan) ready. 
2. Pour the sugar evenly over the bottom of a medium saucepan and pour the water over the top. Turn it on to medium-high heat, bringing it to a simmer and then boil. Do not stir or agitate the mixture. Just keep an eye on it, allowing it to bubble and simmer away for around 15 minutes. It will go from beautifully clear to deep and caramelized quickly once it begins to change. Pull it off the heat before it burns (you'll smell it if it does)!
3. Pour the caramelized sugar into the bottom of the baking dish and swirl gently to allow it to coat all the way around. Allow to rest about 10 minutes and cool slightly while you prepare the filling.
4. Place your cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer and use the whisk attachment to blend it until creamy. Then add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition and scraping down the sides and bottom as needed until smooth. Add in the vanilla, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk and whisk to blend.
5. Pour the filling mixture over the caramelized sugar layer.
6. Place your baking dish inside another, larger baking dish or on a deep rimmed baking sheet. 
7. Place it in the oven and then carefully pour boiling hot water into the larger container, around the one holding the flan, until the water comes about halfway up the sides of your smaller baking dish.
8. Bake 50-60 minutes - the outside should be fairly set, the middle should still be a little jiggly.
9. Cool at room temperature for an hour before refrigerating for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight. When ready to serve, place a plate over the baking dish and carefully invert so that the flan is now on the serving plate and all that beautiful caramel is all over the top.
10. Serve and enjoy! (A little goes a long way!)

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home