Easy leche flan recipe

Easy flan recipe using a pressure cooker or oven. #flan #flanrecipe #recipe #mexicanflan
We have been making flan time to time for quite some years! While we have shared the recipe with friends in informal discussions, we never got a chance to write the ingredients and the process down until today! The pictures we have presented in this article were taken during the labor day break.

Flan can be made either using a pressure cooker or an oven. Our experience is that the outcome has higher probability of being smooth and solid with a pressure cooker. It is basically a recipe of Mexican flan. However, a few friends from India has informed us that the same flan was prepared by their grand moms and moms. The South Asian version of flan uses Cardamon instead of Vanilla extracts many of the times. In this article we are providing a recipe with the Cardamon flavor.

Ingredients

Sugar – 1/2 cup + 4 tbsp
Egg – 4
Evaporated milk – 1 can
Cardamon – 6

Preparing the caramel

Put approximately 4tbsp sugar + 2tbsp water in a pot. Turn the heat up to medium high. Lower the heat to medium when the sugar water mixture starts to turn golden. Keep a close eye on the color of the caramel – we want it to be golden brown, not too dark brown. Please take extra caution while dealing with hot pots. Once it reaches the right color (which is subjective), quickly pour the thick caramel on the baking pot. We generally make our flan on an 8 inch pyrex bowl. Leave the bowl in the freezer to cool down. The caramel on pyrex may crack as it cools down; it’s fine.

Caramel poured in baking bowl!
Caramel poured in baking bowl!

Making the flan mix

Pour the evaporated milk in a cup. Crush the cardamoms by hand or by a knife. Put them in the cup of evaporated milk. As said earlier, vanilla essence can be used instead of cardamoms. Warm up the milk for 30 seconds in microwave. In a separate bowl, beat four eggs and half cup sugar. Pour the milk in this bowl and mix them up. We prefer using a fork, instead of a whisk or beater. The reason is that fork introduces lesser air bubbles in the liquid flan mix. Bubbles turn the flan spongy instead of making it tight smooth.

Mixing all the ingredients!
Mixing all the ingredients!

Straining the mixture and pouring it into the chilled caramel bowl

 

We have the liquid flan ready to be baked after straining the mixture. Make sure that the strainer is able to filter out the cardamon seeds. Cover the bowl with aluminium foil.

Straining the liquid.
Straining the liquid.

Baking

Baking can be done either using a pressure cooker or using an oven.

  • Pressure cooker: Pour 1 cup of water in the pressure cooker. Place the steam bowl (metal tray) or a metal lid of some sort inside the pressure cooker. Place the caramel bowl on top of the tray/lid. The idea is that the glass surface of the pyrex bowl should not have any direct contact with the pressure cooker. Cover the cooker, and put it in a pressure cook position. Cook it for 12 to 15 minutes after the pressure indicator bar is up.
    Steam tray and water inside the pressure cooker.
    Steam tray and water inside the pressure cooker.

    Inside the pressure cooker: place the baking bowl on top of the steam tray. Cover the bowl with foil (not shown in the picture).
    Inside the pressure cooker: place the baking bowl on top of the steam tray. Cover the bowl with foil (not shown in the picture).
  • Oven: In a slightly larger pot/pan, add half an inch of boiling water and place the baking bowl in it. Leave it in the pre-oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit temperature for about an hour. Insert a knife in the pudding. It is done if the knife comes clean. If not, leave it for 10-15 more minutes. It should be done by then.
  • Bon Appétit

    The ultimate final step is eating the flan. Let the cooker cool down a little, bring the bowl out, run a knife around the edge of the flan. Put the pyrex bowl with the flan in the refrigerator for an hour. After an hour, put a plate on top of the bowl and turn the bowl upside down. The flan is now on the plate. Cut it into pieces. Enjoy the dessert!

    Finished product! :-)
    Finished product! 🙂

    A Family Blog: Settle in El Paso



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    Comments

    21 thoughts on “Easy leche flan recipe

    1. I don’t understand leche or flan. However, I read your recipe article and it seems really easy to make this. Before I try this recipe I will have to check out what leche or flan is.

      1. Flan ? is a kind of pudding or jello like thing. Or a little like cheesecake. Thank you for visiting and commenting. Have a wonderful weekend.

    2. I think to prepare the leche flan can be really easy with the way you have the recipe for it’s preparation. I would have to look up where I can get cardamon so that I can try out making the leche flan .

    3. Leche flan is indeed a very popular dessert here in Philippines, as mentioned above by my fellow Filipino. My grandma is really good at it. It’s her specialty. Everytime she visits here for a vacation, she will always make leche flan for us. She makes 12 sets of it. It’s also true that the Spaniards influenced us with this dessert while we are under the Spanish occupation. The cardamom you have mentioned is unique to me. I haven’t seen anyone using it here. We use vanilla here. A fruity variation would be really nice as well. How about adding mangoes or orange flavor to it? I’m sure this twist will give a new flavor and a unique taste as well.

    4. Thanks for the Post. I love Leche Flan. It’s so addicting to eat. I love it when my mom always cooks it during Christmas and New Year. I can’t wait for Christmas. It’s also one of the ingredients in Halo-halo (a Famous Filipino desert.)

    5. Leche flaaaan! This is my favorite dessert all time! It is very popular here in the Philippines and I believe, Filipinos adopted Leche Flan at the time of Spanish colonization. This is very good and very tasty!

      1. Wow! It is great to know that flan is popular in the Philippines too. Flan could become popular in the Philippines during colonization. Or, may be Spanish people learnt how to make flan from Filipinos. 🙂 Either way, flan tastes really good. Thank you for visiting and commenting. Have a wonderful day.

    6. I never eat a flan by now, I guess my wife didn’t know about this recipe. It seems to be easy to cook and it has a few ingredients, besides it doesn’t take too much time to cook it.
      It looks delicious, I will note it down and ask my wife to cook it in the next weekend!

      1. We are glad to know that you liked the recipe. Thank you very much for visiting our blog and writing a wonderful comment.

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