In the Philippines, there are two types of leche flans (or crème caramels) – one that’s light and airy, the other smooth, dense and creamy. This leche flan recipe is the latter – made of only egg yolks and baked in a water bath, the flan is rich, silky, an absolute dream.
Hi! I’m back from my two-week vacation. How’s October treating you?
I’m still feeling a little jet lagged (ok, a lot jet lagged) and quite frankly wishing I was still back home eating my mom’s cooking. So thought I’d start getting back into the groove of things by doing a post on a beloved Filipino dessert.
Filipinos associate leche flan with 1) Christmas and 2) any special occasion. It’s not the kind of dessert you make out of the blue because you feel like it. Using 10 eggs and milk, it’s borderline impractical to make on a whim.
Great way to use extra egg yolks
If you have extra egg yolks though (as I did, after making Swiss Meringue Buttercream for that Rainbow Cake I made a while back), this leche flan recipe presents a really great opportunity to use those yolks and create a wonderful dessert that tastes great and makes any day special.
The perfect leche flan recipe
I think all Filipino families have their own version of leche flan. My maternal grandma always made the airy kind while my paternal grandma made the rich kind. Both are great, it’s all a matter of preference.
And I just happen to prefer the rich kind (sorry, Lola Naning). The kind that’s so creamy you can slurp it. The kind that doesn’t have any air bubbles in it. The kind that jiggles just right but maintains its shape. That kind.
Leche flan (Filipino crème caramel) - rich, silky, an absolute dream! Click To Tweet
My one leche flan tip
Over the years (and thanks to our friend Regina who’s kind of a leche flan expert), I’ve learned a few things to ensure leche flan success.
The most important one is simple but very effective: to ensure the smoothest texture, strain the mixture through a very fine mesh sieve or cheese cloth as you gently and carefully transfer the mixture into your baking dish. Some air bubbles will float up to the top. Gently scoop them out.
Less than an hour in the oven, a few hours in the fridge and you’ll be rewarded with the smoothest, creamiest leche flan that’s so good it will make you feel like Christmas.
This leche flan recipe only uses egg yolks and, because the flan is baked in a water bath, results in a dessert that’s rich, silky, an absolute dream.
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 10 egg yolks, room temperature
- 1 300 ml can condensed milk
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice (see notes)
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Make the caramel first by mixing 1 cup granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a medium sized saucepan over low heat. Leave alone, swirling occasionally to ensure the sugar does not harden and/or burn. Once it turns a light golden colour, remove from heat and spread evenly on your baking dish (see notes). Set aside and work on the flan.
- Beat the 10 egg yolks before adding the can of condensed milk. Stir until thoroughly combined. Add 1 cup evaporated milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon fresh lime juice and mix well. Add a pinch of salt and give the mixture a final stir.
- Transfer your mixture into your baking dish (on top of the caramel) by straining it through a fine mesh sieve or a cheese cloth. Gently and carefully pour it so as not to create any air bubbles.
- Place your baking dish in a roasting pan and put the roasting pan in your preheated oven. Then fill the roasting pan with hot water until it reaches halfway up the side of your baking dish. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until the flan is set (firm but still jiggly; see notes). If you see that the top is getting too brown, loosely cover with aluminum foil and continue baking.
- Take the flan out of the oven and cool slightly before refrigerating for at least 3 hours.
- Run a sharp knife around the edges of your dish to loosen the flan before inverting into a platter to serve (see notes).
Notes
Leche flan is traditionally made with dayap, a local key lime variety. If you can get hold of that, use it. Otherwise, lime juice works just fine.
It is also traditionally baked in a llanera which is an aluminum mold/baking pan but thinner. I’ve always used glass baking dishes (for this recipe, I used 2 3x6 inch glass baking dishes). I think regular baking pans will work too.
The baking time in this recipe is based on the use of glass baking dishes. If using something else, adjust the time accordingly. Check the flan at the 30-minute mark for doneness.
I sometimes have issues getting the flan out of the baking dish. So if I’m not serving it to company I don’t bother inverting it into a serving platter; we just scoop it out and eat it rustic style. It tastes just as great. But if you do have company and your edges are all uneven as a result of your attempts to take it out of the dish don’t worry – just slice the edges off or slice them into bite-size pieces. Nobody will ever know.
Happy baking!
What do you think of this leche flan recipe? Tell me about it in the comments section below. I’d love to hear from you.
If you’re looking for other Filipino desserts, here are other recipes you might like:
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- Turon (Filipino Banana Lumpia)
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- Avocado Milkshake
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- Fresh Peach Icebox Cake
The rest of the Filipino desserts are here.
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Hi, your leche flan really looks delicious, I am just curious what you do with the egg white? I don’t want to waste my egg white for nothing or throw it away to the bin.
Hi Steph! I hate wasting ingredients too. You got lots of options. My go-to is usually Swiss Meringue Buttercream. I make a batch and freeze it (it freezes beautifully!) You can also make a pavlova or Sans Rival. They’re all in the blog if you’re looking for recipes 🙂 If you want something simple, an egg white omelette works too!
Sounds like a plan for a flan!
I’ll give it a try because I always have extra yolks after making big puto paos. I can either bake or steam this leche flan.
One thing, as I can remember “traditionally” back in the Philippines, leche flan’s are cooked by steaming and maybe a handful of families in posh area in Metro Manila owns an oven to bake or maybe in big dome ovens “hurnohan” from local bakeries.
Anyway I’ll give it a go and see how it goes 🙂
Hi Ken! Yes, I know leche flan can be steamed as well. Not sure about the method though, I’ve never tried it that way…
Are you giving it a go this Christmas? Such a traditional noche buena handa 🙂
Oh my gosh! I need this in my life! This is my defintion of the perfect dessert. I agree with you, I’d also prefer the ‘rich’ kind and this certainly looks rich.
Welcome back by the way. Hope you had a wonderful time visiting home!
Thanks Natanja! I had a lovely time thanks 🙂 I ate too much but hey, that’s what vacations are right? LOL! This is certainly rich, I sometimes feel guilty eating a second serving teehee.
Caramel is one of my favorites! This looks absolutely divine! Thanks for the recipe!
What an interesting recipe idea, I had never heard of Filipino creme before, going to give it a whirl!
Awesome! Hope you like it Brandy!
That does sound amazing! My husband loves all things caramel, so I know he will love this rich, creamy treat.
Leche flan is really considered a special treat. Hope you guys like it!
This looks wonderful! I love anything with caramel.
Thank you Chastity! This is literally dripping with caramel so I promise you’ll love it 🙂
This looks SO delicious!! It is making my mouth water! I cant wait to try this out!
My mother used to make this for me when I was little, I think all the countries have a variation of this delicious cake. We use to call it “Burned sugar cream” and I still remember how delicious it tasted.
That’s so interesting! I love exploring different cuisines. We’re more alike than different eh? 🙂 Hope you can try this version. Would love to see how it compares to your burned sugar cream!
I would never have thought a dessert like this would be associated with Christmas, I’ve learnt something new today!
Haha yes it is! Christmas and New Year and practically all kinds of special occasions because it’s so decadent 🙂
This looks delicious! Ill be giving this a try tomorrow. Thanks for sharing
Happy to hear that! Would love to hear how it goes. Thanks Christine!
I definitely need to learn how to make this. This is my husbands favorite dessert.
Hi Carrie! This is really just stir, strain and bake 🙂 Hope you guys like it!
It sounds like my kind of dessert. I think I prefer the dense one instead of the light and airy one. It’s a lovely dessert perfect for the upcoming Holidays! I love it.
You and me both 🙂 The airy one is lovely too I just like the texture of this one. Hope you get the chance to do some baking for the holidays! Thanks Elizabeth!
Looks really good! I’ll have to try this!
This sounds SO good! I’ve never made a dessert like this, but it looks too good not to try!
I’ve tried it before, I had a friend who is filipino and ge has a restaurant here. Its really has a good taste and sweet.
Nice! Maybe one day soon you can surprise him with your very own homemade leche flan haha 🙂
I’m a Filipino and I really love leche flan. Thanks for sharing this!
Hi Lizelle! Nice! Have you ever made it?
Oh this does look perfect! Kinda like cheesecake – some are creamier and some are more firm. I like the kind you have to suck off the fork. I’ve never made flan but your directions are clear so this makes me what to try this at home.
Hi Erica! You’re right, it is kind of a lighter cheesecake 🙂 And yes, slurping off the fork is awesome (though optional lol). Do let me know when you get the chance to make it. Would love to hear how it goes!
I could really go for this dessert! I think it would be a really nice one to make for a fancy dinner!
Absolutely! You can do single serve or a nice serving platter 🙂 Thanks Liz!
I have always wanted to give my best shot at making Flan! Yours turned out wonderful!
Maybe one day I will have a section on my blog for baking fails lol! Thanks for your wonderful words Megan! I’m sure you’d do great next time you try to make one 🙂
I love flan, and your recipe looks oh-so-delicious! Can’t wait to try it 😀
You inspired me and now I need to try this out!! Autumn seems to be the perfect time to try something new!
It kind of is, isn’t it. Hope you do get to try it! Would love to hear how it goes 🙂
Wow does this look good! I love the tip about straining it and scooping the bubbles.
Thanks Jewel! That’s kind of what I do for my cheesecakes too though it works so well for flan 🙂
This sounds amazing!! I love trying new desserts like this it sounds amazing!!
I really like flan. We usually get it at mexican restaurants. This looks really good. I think we will try it. Thank you for posting the recipe.
Hi Roy! You are very welcome. I haven’t tasted Mexican flan but I do hope you like this Filipino version 🙂 Would be interesting to see how they compare.
My granddaughter loves flan and I can’t wait to surprise here with this the next time she visits. Appreciate the added tips to the recipe. I’ve never made this before so those are really helpful!
Lucky girl to have a grandma like you 🙂 Hope you guys like it. Thanks Sara!
Glad to hear that you’re back at it! And following you on IG, looks like you had a wonderful food filled time 😉 I can only imagine how tired you must be from travelling. Now you need a vacation from your vacation, lol 😀
This flan looks so creamy and dreamy and pretty much perfect! Would love to try this one. Pinning 🙂 Maybe to keep alert you need a nice big cup of coffee and big piece of this 😉 Have a wonderful week, Jolina!
Oh my word my parents were hell-bent on feeding me every minute of every day. Somehow they’ve convinced themselves I don’t eat enough. Hello: I have a food blog LOL! And yeah, one week in I still can’t get proper sleep! Jet lag is a real bummer. Thanks Dawn! Hope you’re having a lovely week as well.
I love creme caramel, thanks for sharing this delicious recipe. Leche flan is great!
It is a wonderful treat. So luxurious! I try not to make it so often so that it remains special haha. Silly me. Thanks Ana!
This is my favorite dessert and I have never thought to make it with left over egg yolk. What a clever idea!
Hi Tania! This is absolutely a great recipe to use leftover egg yolk 🙂 Makes it so rich and decadent!