The Last Flan Recipe You'll Ever Need

 
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I’ve been trying to find the perfect flan recipe for years, and every single one I’ve tried has just been…inedible in it’s own special way. Watery, bland, curdled, or worse- cornstarchy (shudder). Finally, I just decided that if I wanted perfect flan, I had to figure it out all by myself.

This is that perfect flan.

Flan isn’t a deceptively simple thing- it’s really just a couple things blended together and baked in a water bath. That’s why it gets looked over so often. But don’t be deceived, you can make flan that haunts people for weeks after they try it. You just have to buck tradition a little bit, use the best quality ingredients available to you, and get baking.

Trust me on this one. Better yet, try it for yourself! You’ll never make flan any other way.

The Last Flan Recipe You'll Ever Need

Lunera Bakery | February 9, 2020

Prep Time: 20 min Cook Time: 1hr 15min Total Time: 1 hr 35 min Servings: 10-12

Ingredients:

For the Custard:

  • 24 fl oz Evaporated Milk (2 cans)
  • 14 oz Condensed Milk (1 can, 397 gr)
  • 1/3 cup Heavy Cream (80 gr)
  • 8 oz softened cream cheese (250 gr)
  • 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar (100 gr)
  • 5 Egg Yolks (90 gr)
  • 2 Whole Eggs (112 gr)
  • 4 Tbsp Milk Powder (31 gr)
  • 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt (4 gr)

    For the Caramel Sauce:

  • 1 & 1/3 cups Granulated Sugar (135 gr)

    Tools Needed:

  • Heavy Bottomed Saucepan
  • Oven-safe glass cassarole dish, or 9x3in cake pan, or deep-dish pie pan
  • 9x13in or larger oven-safe dish your custard can safely sit inside of.
  • Blender, or food processor, or immersion blender
  • 4-6 cups of hot water


    • Instructions:

    1. Preheat oven to 350℉, with the larger of the two pans in the center of the middle rack.
    2. Place all custard ingredients in the blender, and blend on high in 30 second pulses until the mixture has reached a pale yellow color, and you can no longer feel sugar grains when you rub a bit of the mixture between your pointer finger and thumb.
    3. Add all of the granulated sugar to the heavy-bottomed sauce pan, and place over low heat. The process of making a dry caramel takes about 15 minutes, but it will go from perfect to burned in a split second. Do not walk away from caramel unless someone has suddenly become broken or begun bleeding. Once the edges of the sugar start bubble and turn a rich golden brown, slowly begin to swirl the pan while still on the heat. You will be tempted to start stirring the hot sugar- resist! Swirling will work. Let the sugar do it's thing. The caramel is done once it reaches a deep, rich golden-brown, and all sugar granules have dissolved. Don't get any skin near this stuff unless you really enjoy getting painful 2nd degree burns.
    4. Very carefully pour the caramel onto the bottom of the smaller of the two dishes you're using. Gently swirl the dish until the entire bottom of the pan is covered. The caramel will almost immediately start to turn into a rock hard mass, don't worry! It's supposed to do that.
    5. Pour the custard mixture on top of the caramel. Cover the dish with aluminum foil, making sure to pinch the edges tightly.
    6. Place custard dish in the middle of the larger dish, and position them both in the oven. Make sure the whole set-up is both level, and stable.
    7. Carely pour hot water into the larger dish until it comes halfway up the sides of the smaller dish. This is called a Ban Marie.
    8. Set a timer for 1 hour and 15 minutes. After an hour, carefully peel back the aluminum foil and stick a fork in the center of the flan. If there is residue on the fork, recover and allow to bake for the last 15 minutes. Keep checking every 5 minutes until the fork comes out cleanly.
    9. Pull the entire Ban Marie out of the oven, and sit it somewhere in the kitchen for 45 minutes to an hour. Yes, I'm serious. This is a very important step. I see you trying to skip straight to putting in in the fridge. Don't do it.
    10. Pull the flan out of the Ban Marie, and place it in the refrigertor for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
    11. Pull the flan out of the fridge, and run a sharp knife around the entire circumference of that thing.
    12. Place a plate with tall edges over the flan dish, and then flip the entire dish over in one smooth movement. The flan should slide out, followed by ribbons of now permanently-liquid caramel. If it doesn't though, don't worry, heat up the knife, and try scoring it again. Repeat the same flipping maneuver, and give it a gentle wiggle. Tah-dah.
    13. Slice like cake, and serve! Make sure to spoon some caramel over every slice. Or don't and hoard it all in the kitchen. I don't know your life.