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Keto Flan Recipe – low carb dessert, that is easy to make and tastes just like its regular version, but without the carbs. Creamy custard with a flavorful caramel sauce, this dessert is a must try, if you follow a low carb diet. Perfect to be made year round. Top with whipped cream or berries, or just serve as it is.
If you follow a low carb diet for any reason, keep in mind that there are a lot of dessert recipes you can make, that are low carb and taste similar to their non Keto “cousins”. I’m a huge fan of Creme Brulee and make this dessert all the time. Flan – a baked custard dessert has somehow a similar taste and could also easily be made low carb.
If you love custard based desserts and are wondering if you can have flan on Keto, keep in mind that regular flan is not Keto friendly. You can have low carb flan without the sugar and added carbs, if you make it with low carb sweetener and heavy cream.
What is Flan?
Flan or creme caramel is a custard based dessert with caramel sauce on top. It is baked in a water bath, in ramekins with the caramel sauce on the bottom and the custard on top. Once the custard is set, it is inverted onto a plate and this way the sauce remains on top and around the flan.
It has a long history, but most sources point that it originates from the Roman Empire.
Source: Socarratnyc
“The Roman Empire is the true origin of this dessert. The word flan is the French equivalent of the Latin word fladon, which comes from the Old High German word “flado,” meaning “flat cake.” Flan was once a savory dish, usually made from fish or meat. Today, the dessert has evolved into something sweet.”
Can you make a low carb flan? The answer is – yes, you can and it is much easier than you would think. The main ingredients in the basic flan recipe are sugar, milk (cream), eggs and vanilla extract. So just swapping the sugar for low carb sweetener and using heavy cream instead of milk will ensure that you make a nice low carb spin on this popular European dessert.
It is popular in Spain, Mexico and other Latin countries, and depending on where you are there are different variations of the recipe.
How to make this easy Keto Flan Recipe?
Ingredients:
Caramel sauce
- Water – to mix with the sweetener for a sweet and delicious caramel sauce
- Butter – makes the sauce rich and creamy
- Xylitol – use Xylitol or Allulose. Xylitol has a similar sweetness to sugar, so is a 1:1 substitute, but it has about 40% less calories. It has a pleasant, sweet taste with no after taste – but is not as low calorie as Erythritol or Allulose. If using erythritol for the sauce, it may not caramelize well and re-crystalize. Xylitol and Allulose caramelize better.
Custard for low-carb flan
- Heavy Cream – since the dessert is low carb, we can not use cow’s milk. Nut milks don’t really work well in custard recipes, this is why this recipe is made with heavy cream. No condensed milk or Dulce de Leche either.
- Powdered Erythritol – any low carb sweetener will work well for the custard, but it is best if they are powdered.
- Eggs – basic custard ingredient
- Egg yolks
- Vanilla Extract (optional, but recommended)
- Pinch of salt – to balance the sweetness
- Low carb berries (like raspberries) and mint leaves for garnishing (optional)
Instructions:
To make the caramel:
- In a saucepan combine the water, Xylitol and butter. Bring to a boil, stir frequently and continue cooking for 7-9 minutes, until 1.2 of the water evaporated and the mixture thickens.
- Divide between three (3) 6 oz ramekins. Place in a baking dish and fill the baking dish with hot water, covering 1/2 of the height of the ramekins.
Custard:
- Whisk together the eggs and egg yolks.
- Combine the sweetener and heavy cream, vanilla extract and pinch of salt and whisk to combine. Add the eggs and whisk until incorporated.
- Strain the mixture into the ramekins.
- Bake at 350 F (180 C ) for 25-35 min, until set around the edges, but still wiggly on the inside.
- Cool to room temperature, serve. Run a knife around the edges, then invert onto a plate. Garnish with berries.
Tips to Make the Perfect Flan
- Making the Keto caramel – this is a very important step. Please don’t experiment with sweeteners. Don’t use erythritol, because you won’t get the desired result – a runny caramel sauce. The sweeteners that can be used are Allulose or Xylitol. Erythritol (preferably powdered) can be used in the custard. Now is the time to say, that in this recipe you may swap Xylitol for the Erythritol in the custard, but you can not use Erythritol for the “caramel sauce”. It will not work.
- Smooth custard (no bubbles) – this has always been a little too difficult to achieve with he non low carb option of the dessert, due to various reasons.
- Best baking dish for flan – for flan I like to either use ceramic or metal (usually stainless steel) ramekins. The best ramekins are ceramic (in my opinion) they are oven-safe, very easy to clean, and come in different size and shape your specific needs. You can also use glass or stainless steel ramekins. Ceramic is usually the best option, because they have nonstick glaze, heat evenly react heat well.
- Baking this Keto flan dessert in the oven – bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes at 350 F (180 C). Make sure you have an oven thermometer and your oven is not too hot or cold. Place the ramekins, filled with the custard and caramel on the bottom in a larger (preferably ceramic) baking dish. Fill the dish with hot water half way through. Bake in a water bath, but do not let the water start to boil. If for some reason it does, add some ice cubes to cook the temperature.
- How to serve – let the baked custard desserts cool to room temperature, then you can refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or serve it warm. Run a sharp knife around the edges and invert onto a plate. The custard will come out with he runny caramel sauce on top.
- Storing – after baking and cooling to room temperature, store the keto flan in the ramekin in the fridge for up to 1 week. Custard based desserts like this one do not freeze well.
More Keto Desserts:
Keto Flan Recipe
Ingredients
- Caramel:
- 80 ml water
- 60 grams Xylitol, do not substitute
- 30 grams Butter
- Custard:
- 250 ml Heavy cream
- 50 grams powdered erythritol Sweetener
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- To make the caramel:
- In a saucepan combine the water, Xylitol and butter, Bring to a boil, stir frequently and continue cooking for 7-9 minutes, until 1.2 of the water evaporated and the mixture thickens.
- Divide between 3 6 oz ramekins. Place in a baking dish and fill the baking dish with hot water, covering 1/2 of the height of the ramekins.
- Custard:
- Whisk together the eggs and egg yolks.
- Combine the sweetener and heavy cream, vanilla extract and pinch of salt and whisk to combine. Add the eggs and whisk until incorporated.
- Strain the mixture into the ramekins.
- Place ramekins in a larger baking dish and pour hot water inside the dish, covering the ramekins half way through.
- Bake at 350 F (180 C ) for 25-35 min, until the custard is set around the edges and wiggly in the middle.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can’t wait ti try it 🙂
Am I missing the amount of each ingredient? I dont see the actual recipe with quantities. Maybe its my ipad 😞
Sorry, for some reason it was missing. It should be there now.
the link for US measurements doesn’t work. Can you please fix it?
Hi Lisa,
It should be working now. I’m based in the US, but created the recipe, while in Europe.