Half Moon Bakery Dishes Out Flavorful Flan

The best things in life take time, and no one knows that more than Lyz Otero and her husband Gerson Velasquez. After five years of saving up funds, working on construction and establishing a following for their flavorful empanadas and Puerto Rican baked goods, the couple opened Half Moon Bakery in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood in January. Otero, who grew up cooking alongside her mother in Guyama, Puerto Rico, makes a wide variety of other desserts by hand, including cakes and cupcakes. Perhaps the most delicate dish is the flan, a semi-sweet custard that Otero makes in a number of flavors such as coconut and banana. Even the simple vanilla flan ($3.99 per slice), which takes four hours to cook, is remarkably flavorful, thanks to its house-made caramel sauce. “It’s something that’s not too heavy, but it’s also refreshing,” says Otero. 3460 W. 25th St., Cleveland, 216-772-2499, facebook.com/thehalfmooncleveland