Leche Flan Recipe
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Recipe Overview
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30-50 minutes
Makes: 5 llaneras (350ml/11.8flozs capacity each)
Ingredients Needed
- 10 eggs
- 385g/13floz tin of evaporated milk
- 400g/14ozs tin sweetened condensed milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 4 calamansis or 2 limes
- 250g/8.8ozs golden syrup or date syrup for caramel OR 250g/8.8ozs white or caster/superfine sugar
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 PREPARE - Have a steamer ready that can fit your llaneras or baking tin. There's no need to grease a llanera or your baking tin.
Step 2 WHISK - Whisk eggs with the condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla (or place in blender and blend until smooth or Thermomix for 15 seconds, speed #5). Cut calamansis or limes in half and squeeze out the juice and seeds (use juice for another recipe). Add the spent citrus skins into the egg mixture and allow to steep while you make the caramel.
Step 3 CARAMEL - Add 50g/1.7ozs of golden syrup to each llanera and tilt to spread to the sides. Alternatively you can make the caramel from scratch. Heat sugar in a heavy-bottomed pan on medium high heat and allow it to become caramelised tilting the pan to evenly cook the sugar. Divide the caramel evenly among the llaneras.
Step 4 FILL - Strain the egg mixture through a metal strainer, leaving behind any egg white and calamansi/lime skins. You should have around 1.3 litres or 1.4 quarts of custard which is enough for 5 llaneras. Pour around 1 cup of the strained egg mixture into each llanera mould over the caramel leaving a little gap to avoid spillage.
Step 5A STEAM - Cover with foil and pinch the sides to secure. Place in the steamer and steam at 100C/212F and use a gentle simmer (low to medium heat) to maintain steady, gentle steam for around 30-35 minutes or until the centre is set. Cool and chill.
Step 5B BAKE - Leche flan can also be baked in a water bath in the oven (it's very important to make this in a water bath for the best texture). Preheat oven to 150C/300F fan forced or 170C/338F conventional and cover the filled llaneras with foil. Place in a deep baking tray an inch apart. Pour hot water from a recently boiled kettle halfway up the sides and bake for 30 minutes or until the centre is no longer liquid.
Step 6 SERVE - Run a knife around the edge of the leche flan to loosen the custard. Place on a serving plate and turn upside down. Gently press down on the centre of the llanera to "burp" aka release it and remove the llanera - the flan should slide straight out.
Personal Note
Usually when I develop recipes, I practice them until they can be replicated. For this one, it was a bit different as Del showed me her recipe that worked perfectly. Usually the testing is the time consuming part but I thought I could easily recreate this at home. And that was true up to a point.
However I did one thing wrong that proved disastrous. When Del showed me how to make it we turned the heat down to a gentle simmer as we were steaming it on the stovetop. But I don't have a big enough steamer at home so I use my Thermomix for steaming. But I accidentally set the steamer to Varoma (the highest steam setting). I was so happy having completed this recipe but when I lifted the foil I was aghast.
I had scrambled eggs.
Sweet scrambled eggs.
URGGHHHHH.
Yep steaming this flan rapidly overcooked them and they were completely puffy and tough. So I'm reminding you to steam them gently at 100C/212F to avoid having sweet scrambled eggs.
And the funniest thing is that I told Mr NQN about this but he loves flan so much he still ate the sweet scrambled eggs!
So tell me Dear Reader, do you like leche flan?