This cake is so very delicious! If you're expecting the same loft that you get from a boxed cake then you'll be disappointed as this cake is more dense. But I prefer it for it's simple ingredients (no fake stuff in this one) and wonderful taste. Plus it's much easier to decorate a cake that's more dense- I made it into a bunny cake for Easter. I did substitute butter for the shortening because I never have that in the house and it turned out just fine.

My husband is half Cuban and said that as far as taste and texture goes, this is as good as he remembers from his Grandfather or Abuela. I, too, really liked the taste and texture. It was very smooth and creamy and was the best flan I've had by far. The issue that I had though was with the directions being incomplete. The recipe didn't indicate at what point or how you got the flan onto another dish or if it should be cooled first. And when I poured the hot sugar into a cold dish it quickly became hard and stuck in the bottom of the pan. So I would follow the advice of another reviewer and carmelize the sugar in the pan you plan to use or make sure you're swirling the dish you're baking it in while you're pouring the sugar. After you cook it let it cool completely before you transfer it to a serving plate. Which you can do by putting your serving plate on top of the cooking dish and then turn it over. Maybe those instructions aren't there because it is assumed that everyone knows that but I'm sure there are some that don't. Having said that, the instructions for carmelizing the sugar were very helpful and I didn't have a bit of problem with that. I would give this recipe 5 stars for taste and 3 stars for incomplete instructions.

I make something very similar to this without the vinegar. I love the sesame oil with the green beans, YUM. I always add some type of nuts, usually sunflower seeds. Also good with some french fried onions on top as a garnish.