Baking flan slowly in a water bath gives it a silky, confection-like texture. Be sure to begin making this recipe one day ahead so it has time to chill overnight. For optimal flavor, remove the flan from the refrigerator at least 20 minutes before serving to allow it to come to room temperature.
Ingredients
Makes 1 (10-inch) flan to serve 8 to 10
For quince compote:
For flan:
Special Equipment
Make compote:
Step 1
In large saucepan over high heat, combine 4 cups water, sugar, and cinnamon sticks, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil, then add quince, reduce heat to moderate, and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 45 minutes. Refrigerate quince (in poaching liquid) until cool. (Compote can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated.)
Make flan:
Step 2
In large heavy saucepan over moderately high heat, stir together 1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water. Cook, occasionally stirring gently with wooden spoon or rubber spatula, until sugar melts and caramel turns dark amber. Working quickly and carefully, immediately pour hot caramel into cake pan, tilting to cover bottom and halfway up sides of pan. Let cool.
Step 3
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Step 4
In large bowl, using electric mixer, beat together cream cheese, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla, and salt until smooth and very creamy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, cream, and condensed milk and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes more. Pour mixture into prepared cake pan.
Step 5
Transfer pan to large roasting pan and fill roasting pan with enough hot water to come halfway up sides of cake pan. Cover roasting pan loosely with foil and pierce foil several times with fork.
Step 6
Transfer roasting pan to oven and bake 1 hour. Remove foil and continue to bake until edge of flan is set but center jiggles slightly when gently shaken, about 1 hour more. Remove cake pan from water and cool flan in pan on rack, then transfer to refrigerator to chill overnight.
Step 7
When ready to serve, run thin knife around inside edge of pan to loosen flan. Shake pan gently from side to side and, when flan moves freely in pan, invert large plate over pan. Holding pan and plate securely together, quickly invert and turn out flan onto plate. (Caramel will pour out over and around flan.) Serve with quince compote.
How would you rate Cream Cheese Flan with Quince Compote?
Leave a Review
Reviews (6)
Back to TopThe quince compote I could just eat with a spoon! And I love adding cinnamon to everything so the fact that this recipe asks for cinnamon is another plus. The flan is so creamy thanks to the cream cheese! Love it. Real winner.
Anonymous
10/26/2011
I'm not usually a fan of flan but this one really won me over. Yum!
Anonymous
10/26/2011
4-star rating is for the Quince Compote only. I did not make the flan. The Quince is absolutely perfect and was a hit as a side dish for Thanksgiving dinner. Consider using brown sugar and vary according to the tartness of your quince. Cook longer for texture like apple sauce.
NCostlow
Seattle, WA
11/28/2009
Not bad. It tasted like regular flan, but not as smooth in texture. The caramel overpowered the cream cheese as well. If you want flan, make a flan. If you want cheese cake, make a cheese cake.
Anonymous
boston, ma
11/22/2008
I'll admit I'm not a flan expert. I'm a competent cook however, and I can follow a recipe. This was a tough one. The directions for the carmel layer should be clearer. To get the dark amber color I wound up cooking til it was a hard crack stage and beyond. (sugar dissolved, then regranulated as the water cooked out, THEN the sugar melted again and turned dark amber) Eventually I got a dark carmel color when it was cooked to a hard crack stage - which became a thick hard glassy layer on top of the flan. I've read some other recipes for flan and they indicate that organic sugars don't get dark. So if you're using ORGANIC sugar, just cook syrup to a soft ball stage and forget the color change. Secondly,my experience was that 60 minutes in a 325 degree oven is a perfect. (I have a new oven and am using a thermometer to confirm the temperatures are right, so I think the other reviewer might have an overn that runs hot. Third, don't use a silicon baking pan... the flexible pan is too difficult to keep steady. Fourth, the recipe will overfill a (standard sized)9" cake pan, so prepare a couple of extra individual flan dishes for the overage. Hope this helps the next cook avoid some of my difficulties. Best of luck!
lindleyk
Los Angeles
9/6/2008
the flan was not too sweet, with a creamy texture... did not take as long to cook as indicated, checked on it at 45 minutes and it was already set....beware! making the caramel and adding water will only make this crystallize and a clean up nightmare!! just use the sugar and heat till an amber liquid.
pbrobinson
atlanta
4/26/2008
