This simple flan recipe is beloved by my son, and I hope your family loves it just as much. It’s a great dessert for Cinco de Mayo, and simple enough to whip together any time.
A Family Favorite
Flan is one of my youngest son’s favorite desserts. He orders it whenever it is available and often requests it for his birthday. When I posted this recipe, hadn’t made a flan is a long time.
Once I made it, I couldn’t believe I didn’t do it more often. It’s so easy and delicious. I’ve now made it dozens of times since I first posted this recipe and have used a loaf pan, as well as the round one. Both are equally as easy, but produce different looks.
What Is Flan?
Flan is a creamy custard that is bound by lots of whole eggs and can be silky smooth if baked just right. The trick is to bake it in a water bath until it is just set like jello, then take it out before the proteins in the eggs cook too tight and get rubbery. It is super simple, but takes knowing what to look for. You can watch me make it in my instagram video, so you’ll know the signs of a perfect flan.
While it’s roots are in Spain, it also has ties to South America, the Philippines, Mexico and much of Latin America.
The Basic Ingredients
This classic dessert from Spain can be made in an 8-inch pan, baking dish or 9-inch cake pan. It is pretty versatile in terms of how you make it. You’ll want to let it cool on the counter before putting it in the refrigerator with plastic wrap, but you can keep it for a few days in the fridge.
- Eggs
- Whole Milk
- Sweetened Condensed Milk
- Caramel sauce
Flan Recipe
Ingredients
Caramel
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp corn syrup or 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/2 cup water
Custard
- 6 large eggs
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- pinch vanilla salt or 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped + a pinch of salt
Instructions
To Make the Flan
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Caramelize the sugar, corn syrup and water. Immediately pour into a 6-cup shallow flan mold. I only have a Tarte Tatin Pan, so I used that and it was perfect.
- Whisk together the eggs, milk, condensed milk, zest, cinnamon, and vanilla salt until well combined.
- Pour over caramel. Set the pan in a roasting pan and fill with HOT water, half way up the flan.
- Bake for about 40-50 minutes or until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the flan.
- Cool in the water bath, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours, but can be made 2 days in advance.
To Serve
- Run a paring knife around the edge of the pan, invert onto a serving plate that has a lip to catch the caramel.
Thanks for holding my hand through a successful first flan! This isn’t the simple, classic flavor I’m used to, but the orange and cinnamon added a pleasant complexity. My husband grew up eating flan in South America. While my attempts to recreate dishes from his childhood are usually met with reasons why we really can’t expect to have the same results in the states at this altitude blah blah blah, this one got rave reviews from him and his dad. Ha!
mmmmm
We call this Leche flan in the Philippines and it’s one of our local staples.
I experience a flan in my pre-lactose intolerant days. Delicious. Now, it’s like being “gut shot”. I prey for the day that sweetened condensed milk is offered as lacrosse free…it would change the taste to become just a little sweeter. But, not sufficient market demand.
Me too. But a Lactaid pill usually takes care of it for me. Have you tried them?
I love flan! Looks and sounds delicious and your photographs are stunning!