Cuban Flan
A dense, silky caramel custard of condensed and evaporated milk, eggs and vanilla, baked in a water bath and chilled.
Photograph credit: Cruise-Miami-2009-11-15-CIMG0069 by zenm · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr
Make Ahead and Storage
Keeps in the fridge for 4 days.
Cuban Flan: The Method
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Heat the oven to 160°C / 320°F (140°C / 285°F fan). Heat the sugar and water in a pan without stirring for about 8 minutes until deep amber. Pour into a 22 cm cake tin, tilting to coat the base.
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Blend the eggs, condensed milk, evaporated milk, vanilla and salt for 30 seconds. Strain into the tin.
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Stand the tin in a roasting pan and pour in boiling water to come halfway up. Bake for 60 minutes until set with a slight wobble.
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Cool, then chill for at least 4 hours. Run a knife round the edge and invert onto a plate.
Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Pan and tin size.
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Tips for Success
- Blend gently; avoid making froth.
- Cover with foil if the top browns too fast.
- Chill overnight for the cleanest slices.
Some Background
Smooth, heavy and sweet: a Cuban flan has the texture of a firm cream cheese, rather than a wobbly French crème caramel. The reason is the milk. Two tins, one of sweetened condensed milk and one of evaporated, replace the fresh milk, and the custard bakes slowly into a thick, close-textured slice with a deep caramel on top.
The caramel is first. Heat 150 g of sugar with 2 tablespoons of water in a pan, without stirring, until it turns the colour of dark amber, about 8 minutes. Pour it into the mould as soon as it reaches colour, tilting the tin to coat the base. A pale caramel is too sweet and a dark one bitter.
Blend the eggs, condensed milk, evaporated milk, vanilla and a pinch of salt for 30 seconds. Don't whisk in air. Strain through a sieve to remove any threads. Pour into the caramel-lined tin.
Stand the tin in a roasting pan and add boiling water to halfway. Bake at 160°C / 320°F for 60 minutes. It should wobble slightly in the centre. Cool, then chill for at least 4 hours or overnight. To serve, run a knife round the edge and invert onto a plate, letting the caramel flood over.
Serving Ideas
Cuban coffee · Fresh fruit · Whipped cream · Rum
Quick Answers
How long does Cuban Flan take to make?
20 minutes of preparation and 1 hour of cooking, plus 4 hours of Chilling, so allow 5 hours 20 minutes from start to finish. The method also needs time for cooling, which it does not time, so treat that as a minimum. The recipe serves 8.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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