Pumpkin Cream Cheese Flan

This pumpkin flan with cream cheese is a must-have on your Thanksgiving dessert table. It's smooth, creamy, and the pumpkin taste is gentle -not an overpowering pumpkin pie

I tested this recipe with and without cream cheese. My favorite was the softer, creamier cream-cheese version, while my daughter preferred the firmer, more traditional texture without it. I've included directions for choosing the version your family will enjoy most.

I originally published this recipe in 2016 and have since updated it with minimal recipe tweaks, new photos, and more clarity.

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Jump to:

• Why You'll Love This
• Notes From My Kitchen
• Ingredients for flan de calabaza
• Full steps to make pumpkin flan
• Making the Caramel Sauce Using a Wet Method
• Making the Custard For a Creamy Pumpkin Flan
• Using a Water Bath for the first time?
• Baking & Chilling Flan
• How to Unmold Pumpkin Flan
• Tips to remember
• Make Ahead and Storage
• Pumpkin Cream Cheese Flan

Why You'll Love This

I have a confession to make... I'm not the biggest fan of pumpkin pie. I've always found it to have an overpowering pumpkin taste. And, to be honest, it's too dense and heavy in the mouth.

Now, pumpkin flan with cream cheese? Oof, it's an experience. The texture of flan de calabaza is just like our traditional Puerto Rican flan recipe, but there's a clear fall taste that comes from the pumpkin and warm spices.

The pumpkin taste in our flan is gentle, yet there. You can taste the pumpkin, but it's gently mellowed out due to the condensed milk and ginger. It's a balanced taste, yet difficult to explain.

If you don't want to use cream cheese, you can omit it for a firmer flan texture.

Ingredients for flan de calabaza

This pumpkin flan is made with just a few ingredients.

• 100% Pumpkin Purée: Not pumpkin pie filling.
• Cream cheese: softened
• Eggs: At room temperature.
• Sweetened Condensed Milk
• Evaporated Milk
• Vanilla Extract
• Spices: You can use store-bought pumpkin spice, but I chose to make my own blend with
  • ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves
• Salt
• Sugar and Water (to make the caramel layer)

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Making the Caramel Sauce Using a Wet Method

Detailed Caramel Tips

I quickly learned to not stir the mixture. Leave it alone to keep it from crystallizing. The best way to "move" it is to lift the pan and gently swirl it, if needed.

Less cooking time is better to be safe. Once the sugar has turned amber, remove it from the heat. You may see small chunks of sugar crystals still, but just swirl the pan for a few seconds. The residual heat will melt it down.

In my recipe testing, I tried keeping the temperature at medium, but there was not enough heat to truly create the reaction the sugar needed. Every stove is different, but I had my heat at 7 out of 10. The cooking time took about 13-15 minutes.

Once your caramel is made and placed into the pan, keep it to the side. You'll notice that the caramel will set again, and that's okay. It will melt once it bakes in the oven.

Note: The caramel for flan can go from amber color to burnt in a few seconds. I personally begin to slightly lower the heat or lift the pan a bit away from the stove, once I notice that about 70 percent of the caramel is already at the desired color.

Making the Custard For a Creamy Pumpkin Flan

Detailed Instructions on Making Custard

This is the easiest step in making flan. You're literally dumping the ingredients into a bowl or blender and gently mixing it to combine. But, if you're not careful, this is where the issues come in later on.

The reason I choose a blender over a bowl and whisk is that it's easier to incorporate the cream cheese this way, but one reader shared that she gently mixed her custard by hand and avoided creating excess bubbles this way.

To ensure we have a silky smooth flan de calabaza, we are going to take it a step further by straining our pumpkin flan custard mixture through a fine mesh sieve, before pouring it into the caramel covered baking mold.

Once your custard is in your baking mold, you may notice that there's foam at the top. You can skim the foam off with a spoon or a fine mesh food skimmer.

Using a Water Bath for the first time?

Known as baño María, bain-marie, or water bath -this is the baking technique used for making our pumpkin flan.

Place the flan pan inside a larger, deeper baking pan. Put the pans on the slightly pulled-out oven rack before you carefully pour hot water into the outer pan. The water should reach approximately halfway up the side of the flan pan.

Tips for avoiding water splashing into flan:

1. When you pull the rack out, there's a specific spot where the rack "dips". Make sure the rack is pulled before the dip so that when you push the rack back inside the oven with the flan on the rack there's not a big jolt that can create water to splash into the flan.

2. When pouring hot water into the pan, pour it away from the flan. Use a tea kettle or a pitcher to create a controlled pouring of water. You can take it further by holding a small plate vertically to create a splash guard. Remember not to go further than halfway of your flan pan. A good rule of thumb is one inch of water in the big pan.

Baking & Chilling Flan

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about one hour, or until flan de calabaza sets. Times will vary on oven calibration, pan size, etc. At the 55 minute marker, is when I check on my flan.

The edges should be set, but the center should still move together with a gelatin-like wobble. It should not look like liquid (you may see some liquid at the edges where caramel may escape with the wiggling), but it also should not be completely rigid.

Begin checking the flan at 55 minutes. It is ready when the edges are set and the center moves together with a gentle, gelatin-like wobble. It should not ripple like liquid, but it should not be completely rigid. A little liquid around the edge may simply be melted caramel. Remove the flan from the water bath and let it finish setting from residual heat as it cools.

Do NOT remove the flan from the pan. Flan is not like cake, we don't remove it from the pan to cool.

Once the flan has cooled to room temperature, cover it with either plastic wrap or aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight, or at minimum, 4 hours. Pumpkin flan is seriously a great make ahead dessert that is perfect for Thanksgiving.

How to Unmold Pumpkin Flan

Inverting (or flipping) flan can be unnerving. Sometimes, flan will break when it's flipped. It happens. Here are things I do to help ensure the flan flips and transfers easily to a new plate.

First, I don't want to flip the flan the second I remove it from the fridge. I typically like to let it sit for 10-20 seconds, then test whether the flan releases.

After the caramel has had time to unharden, I like to gently wiggle the flan in the pan in like a skiing motion of up right up left. At this point, I can see if my edges are completely stuck onto the sides, or if they seem to have been loosened naturally.

If the rim of the flan appears to be touching and not disconnected from the sides of the pan, run a thin knife around the chilled flan while keeping the blade against the pan.

Finally, place a rimmed serving platter that is larger than your pan with flan on top and tightly against the pan. Hold both together and flip them in one confident motion. Let the inverted pan rest briefly before lifting it slowly so the caramel can flow over the flan.

Make Ahead and Storage

Pumpkin flan is best made at least one day before serving. Store it covered in the refrigerator, for up to 3-4 days. It can rest right beside your classic Puerto Rican coquito and your unique caramel pumpkin coquito.

For the creamiest texture, serve the flan de calabaza after it's rested for a few minutes. Spoon the caramel collected on the platter over each slice.