WHAT YOU NEED

150g (5½ oz) caster (superfine) sugar
250g (9 oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
340ml (11½ fl oz) tinned evaporated milk
400ml (14 fl oz) tinned condensed milk
5 eggs, at room temperature
seeds scraped from ½ vanilla bean, or ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon table salt

I generally use a round Pyrex pie dish (24 cm/9½ inches in diameter) as a mould. It is transparent and makes coating with burnt sugar easier. You will also need a roasting tin that the mould fits inside, in order to create a bain-marie.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

Place the sugar and 80ml (1⁄3 cup) of water in a heavy-based saucepan over medium–high heat. Bring to the boil and cook the sugar until it starts to change colour. Reduce the heat to medium–low and keep cooking until the sugar is light brown to brown; this can take 10–15 minutes. Be careful – the sugar will be about 180°C (350°F), and you can burn yourself. You have to be careful not to burn the sugar, so stay vigilant.

When the sugar starts smoking, it’s ready. Have a couple of oven mitts ready and your mould on a flat and secure surface.

When the sugar is ready, quickly pour it into the mould and, with oven mitts on, distribute the caramel over the bottom and two-thirds of the way up the side of the mould. The caramel will dissolve into syrup when the flan is ready and will make unmoulding easy.

Set the mould aside.

Boil 1.5 litres (6 cups) of water in a kettle. Add all the remaining ingredients to a blender. Blend on the lowest speed for 1 minute, until the mixture is smooth but not too frothy.

Pour it into the mould and cover with foil. Place the mould in the roasting tin. Place the tin with the mould inside on a middle shelf in the oven, then pour the hot water into the tray until it reaches two-thirds of the way up the outside of the mould.

Cook for 1 hour. When ready, with your mitts on, take the tin filled with water and the mould out of the oven and check if the flan is cooked. Jiggle the mould softly – it should be wobbly.

If the middle is still runny, return to the oven for another 10 minutes. Take the mould out of the tin and place on a wire rack to cool – note that the flan is very fragile at this stage.

When cool, run a paring knife around the edge of the flan – which will make unmoulding easier later – then place in the fridge.

To unmould the flan, you need a plate that is larger than the mould, preferably with a raised edge.

Place the plate upside down on top of the mould. Holding both the plate and mould very securely, flip them both upside down so the flan lands on the plate.

Do not wear your Sunday best at this stage, as you might splash it with flan goodness! Collect the syrup from the mould and place it in a little jug. With a long, thin knife, cut the flan into slices. Clean the knife between cuts so it keeps the flan pretty.

Serve the slices on dessert plates and finish with a drizzle of syrup.