Melt-in-your-mouth creamy and delicious, this flan is what you’ve been waiting for

Playa Norte, with its gentle curve of white-sand beach, dozen or so beachfront palapa restaurants and tranquil view of Las Tres Islas, is a postcard-perfect location for, well, just about anything. Swimming, walking, playing, eating, drinking and just all-around being merry all work well here. To add dessert – and a consistently fantastic, made-from-scratch-from-a-secret-recipe dessert, at that – is just, well, icing on the cake (pun intended).

Five years ago Luis Raul Gonzalez – “The Flan Man” – and his wife Lupita began selling their homemade flans to customers at the palapas on Playa Norte, going table to table with the individually packaged vanilla flans. They were an instant hit with visitors and Mazatlecos alike. The couple continued experimenting with the recipe, refining their technique, making small batches, using high-quality ingredients and perfecting the caramel sauce and smooth creaminess of the custard.

From that humble beginning has come a dynasty of five flavors: the original vanilla, plus pecan, cream cheese, kahlua and cocoanut. Chocolate and lemon are available by special order as are smaller individual cups and a larger party-size. A loyal and dedicated clientele expects their flan to appear – which it always does - and Luis’s exuberance and enthusiasm about his flan and his work is touchingly genuine and sincere. He and Lupita work 365 days a year, making hundreds of the individual flans fresh every day. Luis handles sales, walking between the palapas along Playa Norte starting around 11:30 a.m., carrying the flans in a spotlessly clean 5-gallon bucket, labeled by flavor and chilled. With a flourish, he presents a covered platter to potential customers containing

One might wonder: why all the fuss about flan? When pressed as to why people like his flan so much, Luis answers with a shrug and a smile. “I think it’s because it’s made with love.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.