Each holiday season, my grandmother born in Puerto Rico on my father’s side bakes a queso flan for the entire Rivera household to enjoy. However, my grandma prefers to make hers cheese-oriented, compared to the standard egg-flavored flan.

Flan is an essential dessert in Puerto Rican cuisine, especially during the holidays, and a comfort food from my childhood. From my family to yours, enjoy this Puerto Rican recipe to share with loved ones this festive season. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 package (8 ounces) of softened cream cheese
• 1 can (14 ounces) of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 can (12 ounces) of evaporated milk
• 5 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla
• 1 8 or 9 in., 2 in. deep, cake pan
• 1 13×9 in. baking pan

Instructions:

1. Start by preheating your oven to 350 F. As the oven heats up, begin boiling water in a pot.
2. Over medium-low heat, melt sugar completely until it dissolves in a small saucepan — make sure it doesn’t burn! Swirl the pan to stir — do not stir with a utensil. Wait to remove from heat until the dissolved sugar turns into a dark golden, amber color.
3. Once taken off heat, immediately pour the dissolved sugar into the bottom of your cake pan. Make sure to work quickly before it hardens!
4. In a blender, beat the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, eggs and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly combined.
5. Strain the newly made custard in a sieve to prevent lumps. Pour over the dissolved sugar in the cake pan, then add the boiling water to the large baking pan. Put the cake pan inside of the boiling water. The cake pan will sit inside of the water. 
6. Bake for one hour.
7. Remove from the oven and let the cake pan cool in the water for another hour. Once cooled, refrigerate the flan for at least two hours, but overnight gives the best results!