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!

Pan de Leche

Pan de Leche 

or Spanish Sweet Milk Rolls

These little beauties have just the right hint of sweet to them with a lovely crusted top. They smell divine too. They are super easy to make and won't take all day either! The only challenge is not eating the whole tray before anyone gets home hehe.

Enjoy plain, with sweet or with savory toppings. These are amazing for morning tea, pinics, lunch with dinner, or for any occasion really. They are a great lunchbox addition as they have no nasty additives and the kids love them. I like mine with fancy cheese and ham or else with jam and a little dollop of greek yoghurt (which is a great alternative to cream)

Ingredients

1.5 cups almond milk or any milk you prefer

4 tablespoons coconut oil

1 tablespoon honey or agave syrup or maple syrup

4 cups whole wheat flour or any flour you prefer

1 packet yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

Instructions

First place the coconut oil, honey and syrup in a saucepan on low heat until the mixture is lukewarm.

Next mix the flour, yeast, salt and fennel seeds in a large bowl until well combined. 

Slowly add the milk mixture into the flour mix. Depending on the flour used you may not need to use all of the milk mixture. Using your hands, mix until the dough is smooth and elastic. If it is too wet and sticks to your hands simply add a little flour at a time until the right consistency is reached. 

Once you are happy with the consistency place the mixture in a large bowl greased with coconut oil and cover. Allow the mixture to double in size which will take approximate an hour. 

Now you can preheat the oven to 220C. Divide the mixture into about 8-12 pieces. Shape each piece like a bread bun and place into a greased bread pan or deep tray. Grease the side of each roll with a little coconut oil using a brush before placing one next to it. Fit rolls tightly into tray.

Allow rolls to grow in pan for approximately 15mins. Brush the top of the rolls with a little milk and place in oven. Allow breads to brown for approximately 30-45 mins.