One of the easiest Filipino desserts for me to make here in Australia is Leche Flan. The kids love this recipe, but as you can see in the image, the caramel isn’t very dark. That’s because of my family’s preference, so you may need to experiment with the caramel to get it as dark as you like.

I hope you enjoy making this! This is a busy mom version; traditional Leche Flan  uses carefully separated egg yolks, careful hand beating with a whisk, and strains the mixture through cheesecloth several times, resulting in a silky creamy flan. I’m rather lazy and want my delicious treat with minimal effort; my answer to this is to tap the bubbles out and use either a blender or mixer.

Super Easy Leche Flan

Ingredients:

Caramel

1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
Tefal microwavable glass jug

Put sugar and water in jug, making sure all the sugar is damp. Microwave on high for 2 and a half minutes (that’s how long it takes for my microwave). You may need to microwave longer to get the result you prefer; in increments of 15-30 seconds. I don’t like a very brown caramel for this dish so my caramel is pretty light, so you may need to increase the time, but be careful not to burn the caramel.

In a medium sized baking dish, or several small ramekins, quickly pour out the caramel, with the help of a spatula and holding the jug with an oven mitt, and tip the dish to spread the caramel around. Set aside. If using small ramekins, you’ll have to work pretty fast.

For flan:
4 eggs (if you want a more eggy flavour, 6 eggs)
1 395g can sweetened condensed milk
1 375 ml can or carton of evaporated milk.
1-2 tablespoons vanilla flavour

Mix all ingredients on very high until thoroughly blended, about 5 minutes. Pop all the larger bubbles and froth, as much as you can. Gently pour into prepared dish, tap the dish a few times to release any bubbles in the fluid and cover with foil.

Get a baking pan and fill halfway with water to make a bain-marie. Put the dish in the pan and put the whole thing in the middle rack. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for one hour or until firm. SBS Food recommends using boiling water, but that would probably work best if you’re preheating your oven to start with.

Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Refrigerate to firm further (about an hour or three.)

Run a knife around the flan and invert onto a platter or individual serving dish. The hard caramel will have become a runny caramel coating. Serve and enjoy!

Note:
Traditionally, leche flan is steamed and cooked in an oval-shaped pan called a llanera, but if you don’t have one a medium glass or ceramic baking dish will do.

Recipe adapted from SBS Food

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