My Favorite Flan Recipes

CLASSIC FLAN RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
• Prepare a water bath of some kind. You can make this flan in a variety of vessels. You can use a 8-inch cake pan, 9-inch cake pan or (six) 3-inch ramekins. I used a 9-inch cake pan and a turkey roasting pan.
• In a blender, add the eggs, egg yolks, salt, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and/or vanilla. Blend until very smooth, about 30 seconds. You don't want to get it too frothy so try to avoid over blending. If you do over blend it, let it settle a bit so the bubbles can disappear. Set aside.
• In a medium saucepan, set over medium-low heat, add the sugar and water. Cook on medium-low heat until the sugar has dissolved into the water completely. Then, turn the heat to high and allow to cook for about 5 full minutes, until the cooked sugar goes from clear to light golden brown. At this point, lower the heat slightly and keep cooking until it turns a golden brown.
• Immediately pour it into the baking pan and twist it around until it's in an even layer on the bottom.
• Give the custard base a stir, just to make sure it's still all combined. Pour it on top of the solid caramel. Cover with foil tightly. Transfer the flan to the water bath and fill up the water bath with water from a kettle.
• Cook for 35 to 40 minutes, until slightly jiggly but still firm. Carefully remove it (it'll be hot!) from the oven and set aside.
• Allow to cool on the counter for about 30 minutes and then transfer to the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.
• When ready to serve, run a knife around the edge and then invert onto a large plate. Smack the top of the pan to loosen the flan and then lift up the cake pan. Slice it up and serve.

EASY FLAN RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Pour the sugar into a skillet over medium heat. Stir the sugar continually until it begins to brown and clump together. Keep stirring until the sugar completely melts and dissolves into a golden-brown syrup. Remove the syrup from the heat as soon as it has dissolves as it can burn.
• Working quickly, carefully pour the caramel into a 7-inch round pan or a special flan pan (flanera) as shown in the photos in the blog post. Pour the caramel evenly into the bottom of the pan so the entire bottom is coated. If you need to, use an oven mitt or potholders to move the pan from side to side to get the caramel evenly distributed. If the caramel hardens too quickly, you can carefully reheat the pan by placing it directly on the stove or on the skillet for a few seconds.
• Set the caramel-coated pan aside to cool and harden.
• In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs, sweetened condensed milk, whole milk and vanilla extract. Whisk together until everything is fully combined, but try not to overwhisk so that there aren't too many air bubbles in the mixture.
• Pour the custard mixture into the caramel-coated pan. Cover the top of the pan with the lid (if using a flanera) or tightly with aluminum foil.
• Place the flan pan in a large baking dish and pour enough water in the dish until it reaches about halfway up the pan. Carefully place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
• Carefully remove the dish from the oven, and then lift the flan pan out of the water bath. Remove the lid or aluminum foil and let it cool to room temperature. The flan may still be a little jiggly, but that's okay - it will continue to cook with the residual heat.
• Once it's cooled, cover with the lid or aluminum foil and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
• To serve, remove the lid or aluminum foil and slide a knife along the edges of the pan to loosen it up. Place a plate or platter on top of the flan, grab a hold of both the plate and the pan and quickly and securely flip it over so that the flan is now upside down. Carefully lift off the flan pan. Your flan should be sitting in the caramel on the plate, ready to enjoy!
• Carefully lift the flan pan up. The flan should be on the plate - if it's not, place the pan back down and let it sit for a few minutes. Don't freak out! It will loosen up and slide out. You could try tapping the sides of the pan a bit or even giving the sides a squeeze.
• Slice the flan and serve with the rich caramel sauce!

FLAN

Steps:

• Bring plenty of water to a boil in a pot or kettle to use as a water bath (the flan will be baked in a dish set in a roasting pan surrounded by the boiling water). Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• For the caramel topping: have an ungreased 9-inch by 2-inch cake pan ready or a 2-quart round baking dish or souffle pan.
• In a medium saucepan whisk together 3/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup water. Set over medium heat, cook stirring constantly until sugar has dissolved and mixture begins to boil.
• Once boiling stop stirring and let cook until it's nearing just an amber color. Remove from heat, let rest 5 seconds then add remaining 1 Tbsp warm water (it will steam and sputter slightly so stand back!), whisk to blend.
• Immediately pour caramelized sugar into cake pan or 2-quart baking dish and carefully tilt in a circular motion to coat the entire surface of bottom of the pan (careful pan will be hot!). Set aside.
• For the flan custard mixture: in a large mixing bowl using an electric hand mixer blend together cream cheese and 2 Tbsp sugar just until smooth.
• Mix in eggs one at a time, mixing until just combined after each addition. Then mix in sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla extract.
• Pour milk mixture over caramel layer in cake pan. Set pan in a roasting pan large enough to fit with extra space surrounding. Pour in enough boiling water to reach about halfway up the sides of the cake pan.
• Bake until nearly set (it should still wiggle just slightly when jiggled), about 50 - 60 minutes.**
• Carefully remove from water bath (roasting pan with water) and set on wire rack to cool for 1 hour. Transfer to fridge and let chill 4 hours.
• Run a sharp knife around the flan right up next to the pan, then place a large rimmed serving plate over the pan. While holding the plate in place, flip the flan to the opposite side and let it fall onto the plate.
• Slice and serve. Store in refrigerator.

FLAN DE QUESO (CREAM CHEESE FLAN)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Fill a large oven-safe pot with water to 1 inch; bring to a boil.
• Place sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, eggs, cream cheese, milk, and vanilla extract in a blender; blend until smooth.
• Place sugar in an even layer in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until edges start to brown, about 1 minute; drag sugar into the center with a spatula once the edges start to brown. Continue cooking, stirring from time to time, until caramel is an even golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Pour caramel into a 9-inch flan mold or baking pan; swirl so that caramel reaches 1 inch up the sides. Pour condensed milk mixture on top. Place mold in the pot of boiling water.
• Bake flan in the preheated oven until a damp table knife inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes.
• Chill flan in the refrigerator until firm, 2 to 3 hours. Invert onto a serving plate so that caramel is on top.

MY FAVORITE FLAN

Steps:

• Sprinkle the sugar evenly into the bottom of a glass dish (a loaf pan works well).
• Place the pan in a cold oven and turn the heat on to 400 degrees. As the oven heats, the sugar will begin to melt. When it does, watch it carefully so that it doesn't burn. You want the sugar to melt completely and turn a rich golden-brown.
• Remove the pan from the oven and set it on a rack to cool while you prepare the custard. Reduce the oven heat to 375 degrees.
• Whisk together the eggs and vanilla.
• Add the two cans of condensed milk, and mix thoroughly.
• Use one of the empty cans to measure one full can of whole milk. Add this to the mix and whisk thoroughly.
• Add cinnamon to taste and whisk.
• Pour into the glass dish. You might hear the sugar crackle, but as long as you've let your pan cool a bit, it shouldn't be the glass cracking ;-).
• Bake the custard at 375 degrees for 55-60 minutes in a boiling water bath. The custard will still be a bit jiggly at the end of this time, but will set as it cools.
• Cool completely, then invert into another dish. Scrape any remaining syrup out of the baking dish over the top of the flan.
• This is best if refrigerated completely before serving, but may be eaten at this point.

NINFA'S FLAN

Steps:

• Choose a baking pan that will withstand the heat of the caramelized sugar---this is your flan pan.
• Caramelize sugar* in a heavy skillet; pour into flan pan.
• Whip remaining ingredients in food processor and then pour onto the caramelized sugar.
• Place flan pan into a larger pan with 1" of hot water and bake at 350°F for 1 hour.
• Chill.
• *To caramelize sugar: Place sugar only into a heavy pot or skillet over high heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar melts and starts to turn amber in color.
• This syrup is VERY hot and must be handled quickly and safely.