Lemon Basil Flan
July 7, 2020
Flan is a classic Puerto Rican dessert - a creamy custard enrobed in a delicious caramel. I’m using my family’s recipe, which includes a secret ingredient (spoiler alert: it’s saltine crackers). The result is a consistency closer to cheesecake. Definitely more firm than a traditional flan, which usually has a little more jiggle.
For this version, I played with the flavor profile and infused the evaporated milk with basil from my garden and added lemon zest and a little lemon juice to the filling. Italy meets Puerto Rico - so freakin’ delicious!
Mix and match your favorite citrus and herb: lime + mint, orange + thyme, grapefruit + tarragon. Go wild!
By the way, it’s going to look like this recipe has SO MANY STEPS. But trust me, it’s a much simpler process once you get the gist of what’s happening. Read the recipe through a couple of times and then you’ll be good to go.
recipe
Traditional Rosado Family Recipe
Quantity: 8 mini flans or one large flan.
Time: ~ 1.5 hours for min flans; ~2 hours for one large flan.
Ingredients:
Caramel
198g (1 cup) granulated sugar
Filling
1 can of evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed milk!) (12 oz)
1/2 cup basil leaves, packed
8 large eggs
1 block of cream cheese (8 oz)
198g (1 cup) of sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract (based on your preference - I used vanilla)
5-12 saltine crackers, depending on the firmness you desire (I used 12)
1 lemon, zested and juiced
Process:
Infuse Evaporated Milk
Combine evaporated milk and basil leaves in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Let the milk simmer for 5 minutes, watching closely so that the milk doesn’t scorch. Set aside to cool while you prepare the water bath and caramel.
Prepare Water Bath Set Up
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Flan is cooked in a water bath, so before you make the caramel and the filling, you’ll need to gather your pans and make sure everything fits. You’ll need one pan for the flan (or 8 if you are making mini flans), plus a larger pan for the water bath. I used mini bundt pans. Make sure that the mini bundt pans fit inside the larger one and that you’ll be able to fit a couple of inches of water in the larger pan.
Caramel
In a small saucepan, heat the sugar on medium, stirring as needed, until the sugar has liquified and turns a deep amber. Watch closely! The caramel can go from “deep amber” to “burnt” very quickly. Working quickly, pour the caramel into your mini bundt pans, rotating so that the sides and bottom are coated. When making mini-flans, you’ll need to work VERY FAST in order to spread the sugar before it solidifies. But don’t worry if it’s not perfect! It’ll still taste delicious. The caramel is very hot - so do be careful.
Flan Filling
In a blender, combine the infused evaporated milk, eggs, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla (or almond) extract, saltines, lemon zest and juice. As my brother says, “blend the sh*t out of it”.
Assemble and Bake
Grab your water bath set-up (mini bundt pans inside of the larger pan). Pour the filling into the mini bundt pans - don’t over fill, otherwise it’ll be very difficult to move the water bath set-up into the oven. Place the water bath set-up inside the oven, being careful not to spill. Once the water bath is in the oven, use a tea kettle or water pitcher to fill the larger pan with a couple of inches of water.
Bake for 20-25 minutes (or 45-60 minutes for a full size flan). The flan is ready when you insert a knife or toothpick and it comes out clean. Be careful when removing the water bath set-up from the oven - you don’t want hot water splashing about.
Flip
Carefully remove the flans from the water bath and gently run a knife around the outside of the flans. Place a dish over each flan pan (make sure the dishes are wider than the flan pans). The flan pans will still be hot so make sure to use oven mitts or a dish towel; quickly but carefully flip each flan. Use a butter knife to lift the edge of the flan pan to make sure it has released. If not, a few taps on the top of the flan pan should do the trick to loosen it up. Remove the flan pan and let all of the caramel goodness drizzle over the flan.
Let cool before serving. Some people like their flan room temp; others like it chilled. It’s all a matter of preference. You do you!
Tips:
It’s totally normal for the caramel to crack as it cools. Don’t worry about it. It will melt again in the oven.
To make the filling, you can also use a food processor or a hand mixer. But the blender is the fastest method.
When making mini flans, you may have a bit extra filling depending on the size of pan you are using.