Chef John’s Cheesecake Flan

  5.0 – 10 reviews  • Cheesecake Recipes

My attempt to make cheesecake-like flan bakes over a caramel layer with a custard that resembles cheesecake. Thanks to the magic of caramelized sugar, much to my (pleasant) surprise, I ended up with a cheesecake that tasted like flan. Be cautious since that little covering of caramel can be too strong. I hope you try this lovely dish soon, graham cracker crust topping or sans graham cracker crust topping.

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 50 mins
Additional Time: 2 hrs 20 mins
Total Time: 3 hrs 20 mins
Servings: 4
Yield: 4 5 1/2-ounce flans

Ingredients

  1. 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
  2. ½ cup white sugar
  3. 2 tablespoons white sugar
  4. ½ cup cream cheese, at room temperature
  5. 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
  6. ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
  7. 1 pinch salt
  8. 3 large eggs, beaten
  9. 1 cup milk
  10. 2 tablespoons milk
  11. ½ cup white sugar
  12. ½ cup graham cracker crumbs (Optional)
  13. 2 tablespoons butter, melted (Optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Rub the insides of four 5 1/2-ounce ramekins with oil.
  2. Melt 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, without stirring, in a skillet over medium heat. Swirl the skillet occasionally until sugar caramelizes to an amber color. Quickly pour caramel into each ramekin to cover the bottoms. Place ramekins in a baking dish.
  3. Combine cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, vanilla extract, salt, and eggs in a bowl. Whisk until smooth.
  4. Heat 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk until almost simmering. Stir in sugar and pour into the cream cheese mixture.
  5. Ladle mixture into the ramekins. Fill the baking dish with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
  6. Bake in the preheated oven until custard is just barely set, 45 to 60 minutes. When shaken, custard should jiggle as one mass. Remove ramekins from baking dish and let cool to room temperature.
  7. Mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter and spread some of the mixture over each flan. Refrigerate until fully chilled, at least 2 hours.
  8. Run a knife along the edge of each chilled flan and invert onto a plate. Drizzle any remaining caramel on top.
  9. I used four 5 1/2-ounce ramekins, and had a little custard mixture left over, so you can probably get 5 out of this recipe if you use slightly smaller ramekins, or fill them with less batter.
  10. Ramekins can also be greased with melted butter.
  11. Nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of custard. The actual amount consumed will vary.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 542 kcal
Carbohydrate 71 g
Cholesterol 194 mg
Dietary Fiber 0 g
Protein 11 g
Saturated Fat 13 g
Sodium 345 mg
Sugars 63 g
Fat 25 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Shirley Johnson
Chef John always brings us the best recipes! I followed this recipe exactly and was so pleased with the result. It was easy, tasty, and looked impressive too.
Michael Christian
I followed the recipe to the bottom of the letter. Except, I used pyrex for baking it. No the small ramikens. I have a family of 5 and I need extra, always. I adjusted the ingredients to 8 portions I stead of 4 or six. I must confess, it came out delicious. I highly recommend this recipe and don’t be afraid to experiment.
Denise Mendez
Excellent recipe! I made it exactly as shown. I wasn’t even sure what a flan was until after making this recipe. The whole family raved over it. It was so light, with only a hint of cheesecake. This one goes in the re-do pile for sure.
Matthew Miller
I am not the most experienced baker and I was afraid I would botch this recipe, but it truly is easy to follow and perfect just the way it is. If you want a recipe that will impress the “foodies” in your life but won’t require a private tutor, this one has your name on it.
Brooke Haas
i followed this recipe exactly. i love chef john and use a lot of his recipes! it does taste more like cheesecake than flan but… its in the title! great job chef
Bridget Mitchell
I made this with no crust and brown sugar sauce instead of white sugar caramel (since I ran out of white sugar) and with double the ingredient portions. The cheesecake flan was really good and everyone raved about it and you could really taste the cheesecake in there too.
Anita Smith
O
Douglas House
Great Dessert!
Amanda Howell
So good.
Angie Vaughan
This turned out beautiful! I made it exactly how instructed and everyone loved it! Thank you for sharing

 

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