My guava obsession continues. Exhibit F: Flan.
Guava and cream cheese are a match made in Cuba. They are typical suspects of pastellitos, which is essentially just puff pastry turnovers filled with fruit compote. The sweet, sticky, funky guava is balanced by the tangy cream cheese, giving a bit more complexity to the average pastry fillings. My wife loves flan, and requested it recently, but I was thinking of ways to do something a little different.
Flan is typically a five ingredient fix (eggs, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, sugar, and vanilla), but it's not unheard of for someone to attempt to reinterpret flan. Flan cake (a clean layer of flan atop a clean layer of cake, usually vanilla or chocolate) is a common find in modern Latinx repertoires, from restaurants like Tequilas to food personalities like Marcela Valladolid. Guava cheese flan is equally popular among those looking to give new flare to the classic Spanish créme caramel.
My version packs the guava heavy in the custard. Where other recipes online try to skimp out or opt for a guava sauce, I take the extra step of steeping a half pound of guava in the evaporated milk to soften it before blitzing, to ensure a silky smooth texture. The addition of the cream cheese has this dessert set firmer than your typical flan, which is why I've dubbed this a "flan cheesecake." Since you have to make the caramel in the bottom of the pan and invert, not unlike you would for a pineapple upside-down cake, there's no real opportunity to have a crust for this cheesecake. But this velvety smooth flan cheesecake doesn't need a crust. If you feel compelled to add crunch, I suggest adding some whipped cream and flourishing with a decorate crumbling of shortbread cookies.
I think that's enough guava recipes for the forseeable future. I have a feeling this blog is one recipe away from being dubbed, "Hi Guava, I'm Obsessed."
With a satisfied sweet tooth,
~c.j.
GUAVA FLAN CHEESECAKE
PREP TIME: 5 mins
ACTIVE COOK TIME: 10-15 mins
INACTIVE COOK TIME: 1 hr
YIELD: 8 slices
INGREDIENTS
1 c. granulated sugar
1 12-oz can evaporated milk
8 oz guava paste, cut into small cubes
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
5 eggs
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of kosher salt
INSTRUCTIONS
Do the unthinkable and place a 9-inch round cake pan on the stove. Pour sugar in the cake pan along with 1/4 cup water. Whisk to combine until sugar begins to dissolve. Turn the stove on to medium heat, and allow to cook undisturbed to begin making a caramel, about 10-15 minutes. A dark spot will develop that looks like it is burning while the rest of the caramel has yet to reach amber - don't fret! Simply swirl the pan with oven-mitted hands to prevent burning and allow caramelization to become even. Once you have a dark amber caramel, turn the heat off and use your oven-mitted hands to swirl the caramel along the sides of the pan. Set aside to cool.
In a medium sauce pan, warm evaporated milk and guava paste over medium heat. Use the back of a wooden spoon to lightly smash the guava paste against the edge of the pot. Once it is clear that guava paste has softened (doesn't need to be dissolved), turn the heat off.
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in the center. In a blender, add the milk-guava mixture, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, cream cheese, vanilla, and salt. Blend until homogenous, then pour batter into cake pan over caramel.
Place cake pan inside a large roasting pan, and fill roasting pan with hot water to come halfway up the side of the cake pan. Bake for 1 hour or until set (this will be less jiggly than a typical flan).
Carefully remove roasting pan from the oven, then remove the cake pan from water bath. Run a knife along the edges to loosen, then cool on a wire rack 30 minutes before transferring to the fridge to chill for 4 hours, or overnight.
To serve, remove flan from fridge and allow to sit at room temperature about 10 minutes. Invert the pan onto a shallow plate, and be patient, allowing gravity to do the work. You can also place a damp warm towel over the pan to encourage the caramel to loosen. Slice and serve.
Comments