Cinco de Mayo Desserts with a *twist*

Cinco de Mayo is right around the corner, and anybody who knows me well knows how much I love mexican food. But not until recently have I gotten interested in Mexican desserts. Churros was as far as I went. So this year I wanted to be adventurous and try some other Mexican or Mexican inspired desserts. 

First dessert up, Flan! Oh Flan where have you been all my life. This sweet custardy treat is very popular. Last month I tried it for the first time in one of my fav mexican restaurants and after the first bite couldn't put the damn spoon down. I knew I had to make it, so after researching online for a recipe I decided on one from Allrecipes.com called Caramel Flan Cheesecake. I chose this recipe cause it had a little twist from you your classic flan, by adding cream cheese. 

The recipe is incredible simple, but I did have a bit of a problem with the caramel. 

Here is what it looks like when the sugars are cooking. What the directions don't tell you, is to NOT OVER STIR the sugar. Really let it sit and brown on its own, stirring it maybe two or three time so it doesn't burn. 

This is what it looks like when you over stir. Lumps of hard sugar. When it happened i freaked out, pouted, stomped my feed a few times and threw it out. Now if this happens to you, save the tantrum, you can save it! All you have to do is leave it on the stove, on low, until it goes back into its liquid state. I really don't have the patience for all that, so I started over. 

Here is how it should look. If you get a few lumps, that's okay. Just strain it before putting it in the pan.  Once you put the carmel in the pan, before the filling, it will get hard, and if you weren't able to spread the caramel evenly in the pan, that's okay. Once the cake sets in the refrigerator it will spread it's self. 

Here is the Flan in the water bath. Once the flan is done you will need to refrigerate for at least 6 hours before serving. So if you have time, cook it the night before. Cheesecakes taste better when the flavors have had time to meld together.  

  

Here we go! Prefect Caramel Flan Cheesecake

Yummmm! Don't you just want to take a bite out of it

Allrecipes.com

by Jo Poynor

Ingredients

3/4 cup white sugar

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

5 eggs

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a small, heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, cook sugar, stirring, until golden. Pour into a 10 inch round baking dish, tilting to coat bottom and sides. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated. Beat in condensed and evaporated milk and vanilla until smooth. Pour into caramel coated pan. Line a roasting pan with a damp kitchen towel. Place baking dish on towel, inside roasting pan, and place roasting pan on oven rack. Fill roasting pan with boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the baking dish.
4. Bake in preheated oven 50 to 60 minutes, until center is just set. Cool one hour on wire rack, then chill in refrigerator 8 hours or overnight. To unmold, run a knife around edges of pan and invert on a rimmed serving platter.