desserts

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

Flan Napolitano

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. 1

    Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

  2. 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. 3

    In a blender, combine the leche condensada, leche evaporada, queso crema, eggs and vanilla. Blend until completely smooth — no lumps of cheese.

  4. 4

    Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into the caramelised mould.

  5. 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. 6

    Bake at 180°C for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until a knife slid into the centre comes out clean.

  7. 7

    Cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate at least 4 hours (overnight is better).

  8. 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.

  • →

    Strain the custard. Always. It's the difference between glassy and grainy.

  • →

    Don't stir the caramel while it melts. Stirring causes crystallisation. Just swirl the pan.

#flan#napolitano#Mexican dessert#caramel#custard#leche condensada