dulce de leche coconut flan
originally posted November 21,2022.
I grew up eating flan so it’s safe to say I’ve eaten my fair share. But, it wasn’t up until recently that I made it myself. I’m also currently hyper-fixated on flan…thanks ADHD.
I had taken a weekend trip with friends to Florida where we were on the hunt for a Cubano because obviously. It was there in this dimly lit pastry fridge where I saw perfectly lined up cubes of flan. Prior to this it had been about 6 years since I last had flan which I don’t know why one earth anyone would go that long with out flan. Anyways, I shared a little flan brick with my friends and the deep love for flan was reignited.
Upon returning home, I knew I was gonna want flan about 100 more times before I was sick of it. The first one I made was using Andrea Loret de Mola’s recipe and it was ultra lush and creamy. Then because I’m me and I cant do just vanilla for long, I was brainstorming other flan ideas. I landed upon a dulce de leche coconut moment. This recipe is adapted from Andrea’s because I definitely wanted it to be as creamy as hers.
I boil my cans of condensed milk for this for only about 2/3 hours as opposed the the usual 5/6 I would do for dulce. I want the dulce flavor but I didn’t want it to over power the coconut milk. If you prefer a richer dulce flavor you can boil for longer! It’s YOUR flan after all.
This recipe makes 1- 8” inch flan or 2- 6” flans (so you can share with a friend and maybe not eat a jumbo flan that will inevitably flare up your IBS… def not from personal experience or anything)
*not sponsored by Lactaid but it probably should be*
Ingredients:
250 grams granulated sugar
390 grams dulce de leche (1 can)
120 grams egg yolks (approx 6 yolks)
150 grams eggs (approx 3 eggs)
5 grams kosher salt
1 vanilla bean pod scraped(or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste/extract)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used Diaspora Co Peni Meiris Cinnamon!!)
570 grams heavy cream
330 grams coconut milk (about 1.5 cans)
How to Flan!!
Preheat the oven to 275F. And in a kettle/pot bring some water to a simmer for the water bath later.
To start you’ll need to make the caramel. Heat a pan over medium high heat. Allow the pan to get hot before adding any sugar. At first add about 1/4th of the sugar to the pan, allow it to all melt completely and begin to darken in color before adding the next addition. After adding the next sugar portion stir together with a wooden spoon or heat proof spatula. Allow each addition of sugar to fully melt into the last before adding more, this helps to avoid major sugar clumping and helps to speed up the process.
After adding the last bit of sugar continue to stir until the caramel becomes a medium to deep amber color. This is gonna be based on your personal flavor preference for flan, the lighter the caramel the sweeter it will be and darker caramels will be a bit deeper and bitter in flavor.
Once your caramel is at the color you desire pour it into your cake pan(s). Using oven mitts to hold the pans swirl the caramel around to evenly coat the bottom of the pan(s).
Set those aside while you make the custard.
In a bowl whisk together the dulce, eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, cinnamon and salt until smooth and homogenous. Next whisk in the coconut milk and heavy cream until incorporated.
Strain the custard into the pan(s). Straining will catch any eggy bits that may be floating around that you don’t want to end up in the final product.
Place the flans into a larger baking vessel wether it be a larger cake pan or hotel pan.
Place these into the oven BEFORE adding the hot water for the water bath. It’ll make your life much easier.
Once in the oven, carefully pour the hot water into the larger baking vessel to create the water bath. You’ll want the water to fill this vessel until it reaches about 3/4s of the way up the pan holding the flan.
Bake 8” flan for about 2 1/2 hours to 2 hours and 45 minutes. Bake 6” flans for about 2 hours and 10 minutes to 2 1/2 hours. It will depend on your oven. You’ll know the flan is done when it is set enough but still had a jiggle like jello. A firm wobble. If the center still ripples like waves it need more time.
Once done baking remove from oven. Allow to cool a bit before wrapping and storing in the fridge overnight.
NEXT DAY: Remove flan from the fridge. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and the flan. I’ll carefully hold my flan at an angle and allow gravity to gently release it from the sides rotating a few times before inverting on to the platter to make sure it comes out without having to fight with it. Place your serving platter onto of the cake pan and flip. Lift the pan and hopefully you hear the glorious flan fart.
Top with toasted coconut if you’d like and ENJOY!!