Luscious Flan

The holiday season is over but I can still feel the effects. In fact after Christmas I decided to lie low with cooking since my kids got sick and lately I too have not been feeling well. We decided to eat out for our New Year's Eve dinner. Lucky am I to have friends who are generous; they sent me foods during New Year's day.

This is a new year to look forward to. Today is also the start of a new school year for my kids, so I was bit busy, making sure they have everything they need including emotional support for I know it's a new environment and people to adjust to. That's also the reason why I decided to delay my usual blogging.My kids needs me and I can't turn them down. I have to settle them first.

Since everything is taken care of, now I think I can post my all-time favorite leche flan. This is something I've always loved ever since I was a small child. This is a common dessert usually served in every occasion in the Philippines. This is a rich, rich calorie laden dessert made mainly of eggyolks and milk. If you have noticed, I called for 1/4 cup of condensed milk not to be included.If you're really concerned with the calories you can use low fat condensed milk (which is 98% fat free) to somehow make it a little healthier. Better yet, use low fat evaporated milk as well :) I assure you the result is just as good.





This is how it looks at first. The edges are ragged , it's normal.




This is how it looks when you slice it, really smooth and creamy... melt in the mouth... sarap!

Leche Flan
Makes about 2-3 llaneras

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water

Put sugar and water in a pan. Let boil under moderate heat. Let sugar melt and water evaporate. When syrup is thick and amber colored pour into llaneras (oval flan molds) or ramekins will also do. Let cool.

7-8 eggyolks
1 can less 1/4 cup condensed milk (I used low fat)
1 cup evaporated milk
1/4 tsp lemon extract

Combine egg yolks, condensed milk and evaporated milk. Blend well. Add lemon extract. Mix until well combined.

Pour mixture into llaneras or baking tins (1 inch thick). (Make sure sugar syrup is completely cooled before pouring the mixture) Cover llaneras with foil so water doesn't get into the custard mixture while steaming.

You can cook these either baine-marie style or you can simply steam it. I prefer to use the latter method since it's a lot simpler. Use high heat initially until water boils then lower the heat to low. Cook for about 45 minutes to one hour depending how thick you made your custard.

When done, chill.

To serve - unmold leche flan by running a thin knife around the llanera. Put a serving plate on top of the llanera, up-side-down. Invert and remove llanera.


Note : Ooops! Sorry. I misplaced the phrase "1 inch thick". It should go with the custard mixture and not the sugar caramel. Anyway, I corrected it already. Sorry again. That's the result of typing with my eyes glued to the tv :)