Calling all dessert lovers! Could we really celebrate Easter without a gorgeous dessert? I’m taking the fuss out of our Easter meal this year with a simple and easy Carlota! I decided to add cherries to my Carlota and change it’s traditional color of white to a festive pinkish-purple pastel. It’s the prettiest color but aside from that, the fresh cherry flavor only adds to this already delicious dessert…. pushing it all the way up in dessert ranks. Lucky for me, I was able to find all my ingredients at Northgate Market and pick up a few extra goodies while I was there. I hope you’ll try this Easter Cherry Carlota and make it whenever you have a bag of cherries hanging around.

I think this is the best flan I’ve ever made. The fresh banana takes it to a new level of love!!!  I made this Mexican custard treat a few weeks ago and thought I died and went to flan heaven. It’s creamy sweet and the cajeta adds the perfect touch of sublime to the entire experience. Find my recipe on Babble.

I like to call them “cooking carnivals” a day when all I do is cook and bake.  I almost wish I could take it a step further and hang a sign on my door that lets everyone know to stay out of the kitchen.  Last week I was having one of those days.  I made chorizo stuffing, sweet potato casserole, gingerbread pumpkin empanadas and then I realized I had all the ingredients to make a flan with some of the left over items from the dishes I had created.  Here it is, my first pumpkin flan.  I never got to taste it myself, it was gone before I knew it.  Happy Holidays!

Ingredients for Pumpkin Flan:

• 1/2 – cup cajeta
• 4 – ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1 – 12 0z. can of evaporated milk
• 1 – 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 – tablespoon vanilla extract
• 5 – large eggs
• 1 – cup canned or fresh pumpkin puree
• 1/2 – teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• pomegranate seeds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit

Spray a bundt pan with a non stick baking spray, then fill the bottom with cajeta.

   

In a blender add cream cheese, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, eggs, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice. Blend for a minute or until completely combined. Pour flan mixture over the cajeta filled bundt pan.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place inside a large pyrex baking dish. Pour hot water into the pyrex baking dish to fill up half way.

Then place the baking dish into the oven and bake for 1 hour.

Once out of the oven, remove from water bath and uncover to allow cooling. Run a small knife around the edge to ensure it from sticking.  Let the flan rest for two hours then flip it over onto a plate. Slowly lift pan up away from plate. Then put in the fridge for 5 hours or overnight.  When ready to serve sprinkle with pomegranate seeds. ENJOY!!!!!!

I am known to adore many things, but one of my favorite foods is coconut.  I heart coconut confections, cookies, cakes, paletas,  you name it…. if one of the ingredients is coconut there is a good chance I love it.  The real truth is I have never made anything from a whole coconut, I usually buy the shredded sweetened coconut in a package, and go from there.  This time I tested my kitchen skills and decided to break open a fresh coconut to make a coconut flan.  I was nervous to see what the results would bring.  Me and my loved ones were smitten by the gorgeous scent this flan perfumed my kitchen with, so the anticipation of the actual taste was utter excitement.  ONE bite in,  I knew this flan was the one for me…. I’ll never be the same.

All photos taken by: Nicole Presley 

Ingredients for coconut flan:

1 – Melissa’s Produce sweet young coconut (to make 12 oz. coconut milk)

5 – large eggs

6 – ounces cream cheese

1/2 – tablespoon almond extract

1/2 – tablespoon vanilla extract

1 – can sweetened condensed milk (14oz.)

3/4 – cup cajeta

3/4 – cup shredded sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

First things first. Take your sweet young coconut and cut off the diamond shaped point on top with a sharp knife. Then poke a hole in the exposed shell and pry off the circular crown.

Drain and reserve all the liquid. Once all the liquid is drained, break the coconut in half and spoon out the flesh.

Marry the two in a blender and blend for 3 minutes to get a thick coconut milk. Then pour through a sieve and collect the coconut milk…. this should make 12 ounces.

Pour coconut milk back in the blender, along with the eggs, cream cheese, almond extract, vanilla extract, and sweetened condensed milk. Blend for a minute or until completely combined.

Spray a bundt pan with a non stick baking spray, then fill the bottom with cajeta.

Next pour in flan mixture. Then top with shredded sweetened coconut.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place inside a large pyrex baking dish. Pour hot water into the pyrex baking dish to fill up half way.

Then place the baking dish into the oven and bake for 1 hour.

Once out of the oven, remove from water bath and uncover to allow cooling. Run a small knife around the edge to ensure it from sticking.  Let the flan rest for one hour then flip it over onto a plate. Slowly lift pan up away from plate. Then put in the fridge for 5 hours or overnight.  ENJOY!!!!!!

No compensation was received for this post. I was provided with a sample of  Melissa’s Produce young sweet coconuts to aid this recipe. The recipe and opinions are my own.