Flan Napolitano
Mexico's defining dessert, despite the Italian-sounding name. Nestlé brought the recipe in the 1940s to promote leche condensada, and Mexican home cooks adopted it overnight. The queso crema is the secret — it gives the flan a denser, almost cheesecake-creamy body underneath a dark caramel mirror.
Prep
20 minutes
Cook
1 hour 30 minutes
Servings
12
Difficulty
Medium
1 Ingredients
- 3/4 cup white sugar (for the caramel)
- 1 can (397g) leche condensada
- 1 can (360ml) leche evaporada
- 190g queso crema, at room temperature
- 5 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 Instructions
- 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
- 2
Make the caramel: pour the sugar straight into the flan mould and heat over medium flame, swirling the mould gently (don't stir) until the sugar melts into a deep amber caramel. Tilt the mould carefully so the caramel coats the base and runs partway up the sides. Set aside to harden.
- 3
In a blender, combine the leche condensada, leche evaporada, queso crema, eggs and vanilla. Blend until completely smooth — no lumps of cheese.
- 4
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into the caramelised mould.
- 5
Cover the mould tightly with aluminium foil and place inside a larger roasting tray. Pour boiling water into the tray to come halfway up the sides of the mould (baño maría).
- 6
Bake at 180°C for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until a knife slid into the centre comes out clean.
- 7
Cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate at least 4 hours (overnight is better).
- 8
To unmould, run a thin knife around the edge, invert onto a serving plate with a lip to catch the caramel, and lift the mould away.
💡 Tips from the Kitchen
- →
Bring the queso crema fully to room temperature before blending — cold cheese leaves white specks in the custard.
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Strain the custard. Always. It's the difference between glassy and grainy.
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Don't stir the caramel while it melts. Stirring causes crystallisation. Just swirl the pan.