Flan
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This rich, creamy vanilla flan looks fancy but couldn’t be easier—and since it’s made ahead, it’s perfect for stress-free entertaining.
One of the most popular Latin desserts, flan is a rich, sweet custard topped with caramel sauce. It looks fancy, but it’s way easier than you’d think—and even better, you can make it up to four days ahead, which makes it perfect for hosting with ease.
This vanilla flan recipe, adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, is baked in a loaf pan instead of the usual round cake pan, so it’s much easier to unmold without breaking apart (a common flan pitfall!).
Flan is gently baked in a water bath, which helps it cook evenly. It may sound a little fussy, but it’s actually easy—and totally worth it for that silky texture. If you’re a fan of custard desserts, be sure to try my classic crème brûlée and Italian panna cotta too!
“Restaurant quality flan without the fuss (and fear)…A definite keeper.”
Caramel Flan Recipe Ingredients
- Sugar: Forms the caramel sauce that coats the flan, adding a rich sweetness and glossy finish.
- Eggs and Egg Yolks: Provide structure and richness to the custard. You will have plenty of leftover egg whites—a great excuse to whip up the best macarons ever, chocolate chip meringue cookies, pavlova, or coconut macaroons!
- Sweetened Condensed Milk and Evaporated Milk: Add creaminess and sweetness to the custard base.
- Whole Milk: Contributes to the creamy texture of the flan. If you don’t have whole milk, you can substitute 2% milk or half-and-half, but I don’t recommend skim milk.
- Vanilla Extract & Bourbon: Both infuse the flan with a warm, aromatic flavor, though the bourbon also brings some depth and complexity. You can use another type of liquor like rum or brandy, if you prefer. If you’d like to omit the alcohol, just increase the vanilla to 1 tablespoon.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How to Make Flan
Step 1: Start the caramel sauce. Stir the sugar and ¼ cup water together in a medium saucepan until the sugar is completely moistened. Bring the mixture to a boil on the stove over medium-high heat, without stirring.
Step 2: Continue cooking. Continue cooking until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to turn golden. Continue to cook until sugar is a pale honey color, gently swirling the pan.
Step 3: Remove from heat. Remove from the heat and swirl the pan until the sugar is a reddish-amber color and fragrant. This will take 15 to 20 seconds.
Step 4: Finish the caramel. Add 2 tablespoons of warm tap water, while swirling the pan until it’s mixed. Be careful as the mixture will bubble and steam. The water helps thin the caramel, so it doesn’t all stick to the pan after the flan bakes in the oven.
Step 5: Add to the pan. Pour the caramelized sugar into 8½ x 4½-inch loaf pan and set aside. The caramel will harden in the pan as it cools.
Step 6: Whisk the custard: In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolks to break them up. Then whisk in the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, whole milk, vanilla, bourbon, and salt until evenly combined.
Step 7: Strain. Use a fine-mesh strainer to strain the egg mixture into a larger bowl. The strainer will catch little bits of egg—you don’t want those in your flan!
Step 8: Transfer to pan. Pour the strained custard into the loaf pan over the caramel, then cover it tightly with foil. Set the loaf pan in the center of a 9×13-inch baking dish and pour in hot water until it comes about halfway up the sides.
Step 9: Bake. Bake for 75 to 90 minutes, until set at the edges but slightly jiggly in the center. Let the flan cool in the water bath at room temperature for one hour.
Step 10: Chill and unmold the flan. Take the loaf pan out of the water bath, cover it with plastic wrap, and chill it overnight—or for up to several days if you’re planning ahead. When you’re ready to serve, unmold the flan, spoon the caramel over the top, slice it up, and enjoy!
Jenn’s Pro tips
- Cook Just Right: The flan is ready when it looks mostly set with a slight jiggle in the center. Don’t worry—that little wobble will firm up as it cools.
- Make a Day Ahead: Flan is delicate when it’s warm, so it needs plenty of time to cool and chill before you try to unmold it. It’s best to make it the day before and let it rest overnight in the fridge so it holds its shape perfectly.
- Removing From the Pan. When you’re ready to serve, run a knife around the edge of the flan to loosen it. Invert it onto your serving platter and give it a moment—it should release on its own. If it doesn’t, just run the knife around the edge again and try once more.
- Avoid Freezing. The texture of the flan will not be the same when it’s thawed out.
- Don’t Skip the Water Bath. Similar to a cheesecake, the water bath is key. It keeps the temperature even and prevents the custard from curdling or cracking, so you end up with a smooth, creamy flan every time.
Video Tutorial
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Flan
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs plus 5 yolks
- 1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 (12-oz) can evaporated milk
- ½ cup whole milk (half-and-half or 2% milk may be substituted)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon bourbon (see note)
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- (This recipe should be made at least one day before serving.) Adjust a rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
- Stir together the sugar and ¼ cup (60 ml) water in a small heavy saucepan until the sugar is completely moistened. Bring to boil over medium-high heat and cook, without stirring, until the mixture begins to turn golden. Gently swirling the pan, continue to cook until sugar is a honey color. Remove from the heat and swirl the pan until the sugar is reddish-amber and fragrant, 15 to 20 seconds. Carefully swirl in 2 tablespoons of warm tap water until incorporated—be careful as the mixture will bubble and steam. This whole process should take less than 10 minutes.
- Pour the caramel into an 8½ x 4½-in (21 x 11-cm) loaf pan; do not scrape out the saucepan. (Note: The caramel will solidify when you pour it into the loaf pan. That's ok—it will soften up again as it bakes.) Set the loaf pan aside. (To clean the hardened caramel from the saucepan, fill the pan with water and bring it to a boil.)
- Whisk the eggs and yolks in large bowl until combined. Add the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, whole milk, vanilla, bourbon, and salt and whisk until incorporated. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl to remove any bits of egg; then pour the strained custard into the loaf pan over the caramel. Cover the loaf pan tightly with aluminum foil.
- Place the loaf pan in the center of a 9 x 13-in (23 x 33-cm) baking or roasting pan (preferably with high sides) to make a water bath. Place the nested pans in the oven; then, using a tea kettle or pitcher, pour hot water around the loaf pan until it reaches about halfway up the sides of the loaf pan. Bake for 75 to 90 minutes. Very carefully pull back the foil (there will be steam that has accumulated under it) to ensure the custard is set around the edges but still a bit jiggly in the center. (Don’t worry that it seems undercooked. The custard will continue to cook as it cools, and the center will set completely—I promise!) Carefully remove the pans from the oven. Remove the foil and leave the flan in the water bath for 1 hour to cool.
- Remove the loaf pan from the water bath and wipe the pan dry. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge overnight or up to 4 days.
- To unmold the flan, carefully slide a sharp knife around the edges of the pan. Invert a platter with a raised rim (to contain the liquid caramel) on top of the flan and turn the pan and platter over. If the flan doesn’t release immediately, let it sit inverted for a minute and it should slide out. If it still doesn't come out, try running the knife around the edges again. When the flan is released, remove the loaf pan. Using rubber spatula, scrape the residual caramel onto the platter. You won’t be able to release all of the caramel; that’s okay. Slice the flan and spoon the sauce over individual portions. (Leftover flan may be covered loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 4 days.)
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Hello. Wonderful recipe as this was my first time. My caramel hardened at the bottom of my pan so when I went to invert it, it just stuck. What can I do to make sure the caramel sits well and comes out next time? Thank you.
Glad you liked it! If you make this again and find that the caramel sticks, after releasing the flan from the pan, warm the bottom of the pan by setting it in a larger pan filled with some boiling water. It should loosen up and come out that way. Hope that helps!
I made this recipe. Well written, easy to perform and great to eat.
Made this in ramekins rather than a loaf pan, the taste and texture are excellent. The only issue I had was getting the flan out of the ramekins, but they get out with minimum damage to the edges.
This is AMAZING!!!! Best recipe I ever tried. Can I double it?
So glad you like it! Yes, you can double it – I’d do it in two separate loaf pans for even baking.
I wanted to thank you for the delicious flan recipe!! I made a different one a few weeks ago and it didn’t turn out the way we thought it would. I saw yours this time and tried it, SOOOO much better. I baked them in 8 teacups (instead of the loaf pan because that’s all I had) for almost the entire baking time and it turned out wonderful! Will use this recipe every time!! Thanks!
Hi! I don’t drink alcohol. Is it possible to eradicate the whisky?
Sure – you can replace it with an additional 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Enjoy!
I made this a few days ago. Follwed the recipe to the T, came out beautifully.. Thank you Jenn!
Hello, Love the recipe. I did substitute the evaporated milk with heavy cream and it was perfect. This took away the sweetness of the evaporated milk for me
Excellent 👍👍👍👍 👍
Wonderful recipe! I used 2% milk instead of Whole Milk and followed everything as given. Perfect caramel, perfect sugar, everyone liked it. Next time i’m going to keep it for 80 minutes, instead of the 90 minutes I kept this time.
Hi, thank you for sharing this amazingly yummy flan recipe!
That said, I’ve made the recipe 2 times now, still not able to get the sugar caramelized like in your photo. I would be grateful for you to tell me how to improve on what I am doing. The key part, in my opinion, is your sentence ” this entire process should take only 10 minutes”
The first time I thought my saucepan was too heavy and did not allow the sugar to caramelized in that 10 minute window. So my next attempt I used a copper, stainless lined saucepan, still not achieving the dark caramel color in the 10 minute window.
Please advise me with your suggestion as to what I need to do to achieve the lovely dark, and flavorful caramel sauce on the flan.
While my 2 tries have yielded a lovely texture flavorful flan, I believe the layer of flavor a true caramelized sugar will add, has been missing from what I am doing.
Thank you for your help!
Hi Lucy, I would either cook it longer or increase the heat; there’s always some variation with the timing, depending on the type of pan and stove. Just go by color and don’t worry about the time. Hope that helps!
What temp for the oven?
Hi Mary Ann, the flan should be baked at 300°F/150°C. Hope you enjoy!
Hey Lucy, if your still wondering how to get that honey color on your caramel I can tell u step by step.
1. You need a nonstick white sauce pan
2. Put 2/3 C of sugar with 1/4 C of water in there till the sugar is completely covered by water
3. Let sit over medium high heat and DO NOT TOUCH IN ANY WAY
4. Kepp still until sugar starts to darken
5. Start moving your pan in a circular motion ACCATUINALY
6. Keep going until it get that honey brown color
7. Then start following the rest of the recipe
Bravo! This is a fantastic and very easy recipe. I’ve never made flan before so when I saw the great photos, I felt I could try this. So easy and so delicious too!
Only one problem and that was because I used too heavy a saucepan to make the caramel. After 2 tries, I just used it even though the caramel never darkened. It also cooked down so the amount was almost not enough to coat the loaf pan. I used a small cast iron ceramic coated pan which was my problem. Next time I am using my saucepan that is stainless so caramel will properly darken. BUT even this small problem did not dull this delicious dessert. I received rave reviews from all the dinner guests! This recipe and great tips will be in my collection forever. Thank you