Four-ingredient flan

Flans are found all over the world, from the fancy French crème caramels to, orange-infused versions in Mexico. This one is more inspired by the simplicity of leche flan from the Philippines.

• serves

  8

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  45 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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Sweet Comfort Food

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Comfort food

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Ingredients

 

• ½ cup sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1 can evaporated milk (375ml)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk (395g, 300ml)
• ½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Chilling time: 2 hours

Instructions

1. Heat the sugar in a small saucepan until it liquefies and turns to a golden caramel. Pour into the base of a 20cm diameter round baking tin or a 20cm x 15cm rectangular glass oven proof dish and allow to harden for a few minutes at room temperature. There is no need to line or grease the tin.
   
   
2. Whisk the remaining ingredients together and strain through a fine sieve over the caramel to remove any lumps. If you want a creamier flan you can strain it 2-3 more times to remove further bubbles.
   
   
3. Put the baking tin into the basket of a steamer and steam over low heat for 20-25 minutes, or a steam oven set to 82°C for 1 hr-1hr 10 mins. It’s best to take the flan off the heat while the centre is still a little wobbly, as it will continue to set off the heat (test by tapping or wiggling the tin and watching the ripples on the top of the flan).
   
   
4. Cool to room temperature then chill in the fridge. To serve, invert the flan onto a plate. If it doesn’t come out, run a knife gently around the edge before trying again.

Note

- If you prefer to bake the flan: put the baking tin inside a larger baking tray and place into a 180°C (traditional) oven. Pour boiling water into the larger tray until it comes halfway up the sides of the leche flan tin, bake for about 45 mins to 1 hour, and then remove from the oven. We used a Pyrex® Simply Store 11 Cup Rectangle Dish w/ Blue Lid 20cm x 15cm rectangular glass oven proof dish.

Photography by  Adam Liaw.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

Sweet Comfort Food

Comfort food

PG

Comfort food

PG