Ingredients
Serves 6
Preparation
Step 1
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Combine cream, milk and salt in heavy medium saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into cream mixture; add bean. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and let steep 30 minutes.
Step 2
Meanwhile, combine 1 cup sugar and 1/3 cup water in another heavy medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and cook without stirring until syrup turns deep amber, brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan occasionally, about 10 minutes. Quickly pour caramel into six 3/4-cup ramekins or custard cups. Using oven mitts as aid, immediately tilt each ramekin to coat sides. Set ramekins into 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
Step 3
Whisk eggs, egg yolks and 7 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl just until blended. Gradually and gently whisk cream mixture into egg mixture without creating lots of foam. Pour custard through small sieve into prepared ramekins, dividing evenly (mixture will fill ramekins). Pour enough hot water into baking pan to come halfway up sides of ramekins.
Step 4
Bake until centers of flans are gently set, about 40 minutes. Transfer flans to rack and cool. Chill until cold, about 2 hours. Cover and chill overnight. (Can be made 2 days ahead.)
Step 5
To serve, run small sharp knife around flan to loosen. Turn over onto plate. Shake gently to release flan. Carefully lift off ramekin allowing caramel syrup to run over flan. Repeat with remaining flans and serve.
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Reviews (130)
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Anonymous
7/17/2023
I love this recipe and have made it countless times. I do not bother with using ramekins. I put it in a glass pie pan and let it bake for 40 minutes. I also don't bother with the caramel because it is a bit overpowering for this delicate custard. No one has ever complained about the missing caramel. When I am just fixing it for myself, I use all of the eggs making it 5 whole eggs and I don't bother to strain it. Even with this shortcut, it is still the food of the gods! My elderly parents can't get enough of it. My mother sneaks to the refrigerator in the middle of the night to snack on it. This dish never stays around long. The recipe if perfect.
Jeanne K
Chincoteague, VA
2/5/2022
Super easy and taste was bang on. The caramel hardened before I was able to coat the sides of the ramekins, but it didn't matter, as it melted while the custard was cooking.
A Lauria
2/4/2022
Creamy and delicious, no strong egg flavor, just perfect. Love it!
Ice
Sacramento, CA
11/12/2021
Absolutely spot on. Did lower the temperature a bit but it was wonderful!
Thorleap96
Jax Beach
2/26/2021
I've made this recipe twice now - highly recommend. It's relatively simple and straightforward and made exactly as is... WORKS!!! I've received high praise both times. I do make it in one dish though only and I also definitely do the water bath. I wouldn't skip that. I think it keeps things moist 🍮☺️
Anonymous
Sydney, Australia
11/18/2020
This worked perfectly and there were no leftovers. I read all the comments and adjusted based on majority comments.
Tehani.Mataha
Australia
7/4/2020
Good, but needs some adjustments. The cooking time and temperature was off. I followed the recipe and the tops (bottom when inverted) browned. Also the custard was overcooked, even in the water bath. I’d cook it at a lower temp and check it earlier. Also, I’d pull the sugar before dark amber as it tasted burnt. The delicate vanilla bean was overpowered by the burnt sugar. Next time I’ll use extract.
Julie62or
Porrland, OR
1/20/2020
Pretty good. Be careful overcooking the sugar (caramel). A serving of this has around 360 calories already (Just calculated on myfitnesspal for personal purposes) . So if you don't want to gain weight, maybe divide it into smaller servings.
Oipakaljaa
Finland
1/5/2020
Would the recipe ingredients stay the same if you want to make it in a 9 in pan?
Anonymous
Green Bay, WI
6/16/2019
I have had flan many times in my Spanish household, and I have to say this is the best recipe I have ever tasted! The creaminess, smoothness, and richmess is unbelievable! Definitely a keeper!
carmenwilcox
Oklahoma ity
2/9/2019
I absolutely “love” cheesecake, so I decided to make this. It was a Tuesday, I think. It was “super easy”. I thought it was weird to do a “caramel” for a dessert like this, but I decided to follow “through”. My “boyfriend” really liked this, other than the fact that he left the whole piece still in his bucket. I’m going to watch a movie now.
RawTiast
On fire, CA
11/11/2018
I am in culinary school and made flan for my assignment. This was an excellent recipe! I dis a lot of research on a good recipe and this is the one I picked. Make sure you have the correct size dish. I used two 8 oz ramekins and two mini casserole dishes. They both came out extremely creamy and delicious! Work fast with the caramel and if the custard is cooking too fast or it may be a higher temperature you can bake it at 325 degrees. But this recipe came out delicious!
Amandai850
Navarre, FL
1/3/2018
We had someone come over and they brought flan. While the flavor was okay it tasted like sweet eggs. More of a spongy quiche texture...they used a can of carnation milk, a can of sweetened condensed milk and 4 whole eggs. I wanted to find a more authentic recipe so I tried this one and it came out so creamy and amazing! I will definitely be making this all the time!
LissaOh
Texas
12/3/2017
Great recipe, made it many times. will make it again and again.
karasiewicz0305
Brooksville ,FL
6/28/2017