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
MOre Latin-Inspired Desserts to Try
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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I could not get the caramel to get golden and it crystalized for me. So at the last second I made the caramel dry, just sugar in a pan, and it got dark golden in seconds, then I used Jenn’s method and added some water, swirled it and dumped in the loaf pan. It looked beautiful. I’m sure I did something wrong myself with Jenn’s method in this recipe. But anyway, hope it turns out ok, baking in a water bath now.
Really great! Excellent recipe – and pretty easy too. thanks so much for posting this!!!!
Followed the recipe exactly. Came out perfect. Just be patient with the sauce, give it time.
Thank you!!
The caramel was easily the best that I have ever made by using the technique in the recipe. The flan turned out beautifully however the custard, for me, tastes a bit eggy. I have a flan recipe from an old bon appétit cookbook called flan de Naranja. It is actually the best flan I have ever had. I never hesitate to use one of Jens’s recipes because they always turn out well.
What the temp for baking? Thanks
Hi Patricia, it gets baked at 300°F/150°C. Hope you enjoy!
My flan was absolutely delicious! Thank you, Jenn, for this recipe! Served on Mother’s day to my 95 year old mother-in-law!
Outstanding, easy, and all ingredients were in my pantry. Makes an unctuous silky custard with a gorgeous caramel. I made it exactly as written for our Sunday dessert group but subbed about 1 1/2 tbsp amaretto for the bourbon. (We are not big on bourbon.) Served it with a few raspberries and sprinkled a generous few toasted sliced almonds on each serving for some crunch. Restaurant quality flan without the fuss (and fear) of turning out individual creme caramels for each person. A definite keeper.
I have made many of Jenn’s recipes and have both of her cookbooks. The instructions are easy to follow and they turn out as described. The only tweaks I make are generally to adapt to our personal taste. Thank you, Jenn for inspiring me to try new techniques and different recipes.
Delicious! I had a hard time with the caramel partly because I use a natural sugar that is already brown so I was uncertain when it was done and undercooked the caramel but it still was good just not thick
Until I tried your recipe, my attempts at making flan were hit and miss. Your recipe is easy to follow and the result is muy perfecto y delicioso! In fact, I have received numerous compliments, many of which proclaim it to be the best flan ever! Thanks!
Can you please tell me how much caramel is needed if I am too lazy to make it from scratch and want to use the salted caramel from TJ (forgive me!)? Thank you.
Hi Dawn, I’m not familiar with the caramel from Trader Joe’s and don’t think that it would necessarily behave the same way so I wouldn’t recommend it – sorry!
Made this yesterday for our Tex-Mex family lunch today. I served slices of it with raspberries and everyone loved it. The key, which I read in another version of this ATK recipe, is to bake until the flan is 180° in the center. For me that was exactly 90 minutes in my USA loaf pan. I also took another hint from the other version of this recipe and put a dish towel in the larger pan beneath the loaf pan to keep the loaf pan from sliding around. Yes the towel got wet.
Thank you for the temperature and timing. This was very helpful. ( My first attempt. )
Thanks for this! I have an instant read thermometer that will be great for this! I make a coconut flan in a bundt pan that has coco rollado (grated coconut in heavy syrup) in it. Fill the center with strawberries and decorate around the edge with them. I’ve never made it when people didn’t ask for the recipe. Even people who don’t care for desert seem to like flan.