Coconut Cheesecake Flan Recipe

The other week we were snowed in at my sister's house with four kids under three! It was complete insanity and took me about a week to recover from once we made it home. In the evenings, once we had finally put them to sleep we indulged in a little baking and made a different dessert every night.

Following the first snow - it got a lot worse that night.

On night one my sister suggested we make a variation of the classic Spanish dessert: Flan. This is a very popular Spanish dessert, so much so that as a kid I thought it was the only Spanish dessert. There are many variations but my personal preference is the traditional Flan de Huevo. That was until I tried this one!

My sister suggested we make the recipe 'Coconut Flan' from the book  Isabel's Cantina. We only slightly adapted it, namely we add coconut flakes for a little textural element. Because of its smooth creamy texture it is a actually more like when a flan meets a cheesecake who ate some coconut and they make a delicious baby and call it...

Coconut Cheesecake Flan

Ingredients

The ingredients

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

1 240 ml or 8 ounce packet of cream cheese, softened

1 400 ml or 14 ounce can coconut milk

1 400 ml or 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

6 eggs, lightly beaten

A pinch of salt

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 325° Fahrenheit or 165°Celsius. 

2. In a small heavy sauce pan, place sugar and slowly pour in water evenly.

3. Place the pan over medium heat and swirl to combine two ingredients. Continue swirling until visibly dissolved.   

4. A clear syrup will develop at this stage, cover the pot with lid and boil for 2 minutes. 

5. Once boiled uncover and gently until the liquid turns caramel coloured.

Making the caramel

6. Immediately and very carefully pour the hot liquid into 23 cm or 9 inch Bundt  pan and gently coat the sides of the pan with the caramel by slowly swirling the  liquid.

The caramel is very HOT, use caution when pouring.

7. In a large bowl combine the cream cheese and salt either by hand with a wooden spoon or with an electric mixer. 

8. Stir in the coconut milk and then the condensed milk to make a thick batter. 

9. Slowly add the eggs, combining gently until just mixed through and pour the cake into the pan.

10. Place in a bay-Marie of water reaching halfway up the pan in an oven tray large enough (as per photo below).

The water should reach half way up the Bundt pan

11. Bake in the oven for approximately 60 minutes or until just set. It should wobble slightly when shaken.

Allowing to cool to room temperature out of the fridge

12. Allow to cool to room temperature then chill in the fridge overnight or at least 4 hours.

Our head chef checking if it is ready the next day

13. Once cooled place the Bundt pan into a bowl with warm water for approximately 3 minutes to unstick the caramel from the bottom of the pan. After this time gently run a knife along the sides of the pan to loose it from the sides and turn it over onto the serving dish. 

It looks so good I feel like making it again!

Buen provecho!

Bear Creek Mountain Resort

Setting out in the snow

This weekend, Tim and I were finally able to enjoy the freezing weather by spending the the day at Bear Creek Mountain Resort . At only one and half hours drive away from us, we could not believe that we had been there sooner!

Bear Creek Mountain Resort

We arrived at midday just in time for lunch. We ate at the Mountain Eatery which is a beautiful open style cafeteria overlooking the slopes, with huge stone fireplaces. Knowing that we were about to do a massive workout loaded up on carbs to get our energy. I got a big, juicy hamburger and Tim munched down some rather large Chicken Tenderloins and Fries accompanied by some Sierra Mist (rather appropriately named given the setting!). Getting a little jittery, we stopped into the bar at The Grille and downed some liquid confidence in the form of Butterscotch Schnapps.

Cheers!

We then purchased four hour lift tickets at $54.00 each and snowboard and boot hire at $36.00 each. Based on the resorts I have visited previously, I found BCMR to be very reasonably priced. Also, both of our boots were brand new, and the boards were in excellent condition. This is a big plus, as anyone who has experienced shoddy rentals will tell you. 

Once we got all our gear on we were ready to hit the slopes. But as we got onto the snow it hit me that it had been three years since I had last snowboarded. I couldn't even remember how to do falling leaf (the first move you learn). I was very panicked and almost wanted to go back home. 

Luckily that is when we spotted the magic carpet. This is just a conveyor belt that takes you "up" an almost horizontal hill. In other words it's for people who have zero experience. 

Tim was only too happy to humour me and my panic attack. He didn't even complain while we very slowly ascended about 2 feet. As soon as I started strapping my feet into my board, I felt like my training was coming back to me. I jumped up and did falling leaf all the way down, not even hesitating to avoid all the clumsy beginners along the way. 

With this confidence boost, we agreed I was ready for Ski lift E. This would take us to a short green run (for beginner) called Drifter. I got in line with my snowboard in hand only to be told that it is compulsory to wear your board on the ski lift! I had completely forgotten about that. I strapped one foot in and awkwardly lined up with a board hanging off one foot. When we were the next in line we had to hurriedly follow the chair the people in front of us were catching, as the chairs don't stop. Since I had the board strapped to my foot it was very hard to hurry. I almost fell off just trying to get to the lift. 

Trail Map

Once we mounted the lift we enjoyed the beautiful view from above and were having a lovely time. It wasn't until we spotted the sign saying "Prepare to dismount" that I got nervous again. We had to get off this moving lift with the board strapped to one foot. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to quickly jump onto my board and place my non tied foot into in like a skate board and land very gracefully without falling. I whooped into the air yelling, I didn't fall!! The people around me just kinda stared but I was jubilant, I had this!

The Chair Lift

We boarded down with no falls until I reached the bottom where I only semi stacked it. Having such a great run, we felt ready to progress to the bigger Green run: Broadway. So we went over to B lift and got in line. This was one of the things we loved about BCMR, the short lines. Talking to some people on the lift, we were informed that the day's lines were considered long. These lines were nothing compared to what we have to deal with at Thredbo, Australia or heaven forbid the crazy lines at Queenstown, New Zealand!

Broadway was a lovely run and quite long for a green level. It was also nice and wide, but with some challenges to keep things interesting. What you don't realise the first time you go down it is that you need to initially pick up some speed to make it across a flat section at the top. We were just warming up and going very slowly the first time when we reached the plateau. We had to hop and scoot across a bit sheepishly while all the pros blitzed past. 

After doing this slope several times we decided we were ready for a blue run (intermediate level) and went down Kodak. It was so much more of a challenge but a lot of fun! 

After two hours boarding, I was really starting to feel it, and I really needed a break. My Fitbit had also gone off announcing that I had already reached my target of 10,000 steps for the day. We went back to the café for some coffee and biscuits. It was the perfect stop and gave us the energy we needed. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent on Kodak and finally at Cascade Park. Once I started to get tired I found that I was falling more. Also, as it got later and darker the slopes were getting icier. Once it gets icy it is harder to stay in control and hurts a LOT more if you fall, since the ground is so hard. When our four hours were up I was definitely ready to call it a day!

Bear Creek Mountain Resort

Today I woke up so sore, but it really was so much fun. Next time I would love to stay at the resort since it looks so beautiful. The nearby towns are also idyllic in the snow and make for a beautiful drive. I would love to explore some of the lovely stores and eateries that we drove past. 

So all in all, we are looking forward to going back soon.