Homemade Spanish Flan Recipe

Some desserts always bring back beautiful memories, such as the dessert served at your wedding, your favorite one as a child, or the dessert your grandmother used to make.

One of these desserts is without a doubt the Spanish flan. This recipe became popular because of its simplicity, it requires few ingredients, and the result is a dessert that everyone loves.

In this article, I will show you how to make flan, what is flan, and different tricks to customize this Spanish dessert recipe according to your tastes.

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Background of the Dish

Flan origin dates back to centuries before Christ, and then a version more similar to the traditional Spanish flan recipe was used by the Greeks and Romans and was called Tyropatina.

The Flan recipe was a tremendous success worldwide, but especially in Andalusia, from the 1940s to the 1990s, although it was later relegated to more powerful desserts such as the Spanish cheesecake, brownies, etc.

Nowadays, this delicious dessert has the category of “vintage” so that its lovers can continue to enjoy it in restaurants, especially in Spain and Latin America.

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Things You’ll Need for Spanish Flan Recipe

This is an easy flan recipe so anyone can make it. The best thing about homemade flan is that it does not have rare or expensive ingredients. 

The base ingredients are eggs, milk, and sugar, so you probably already have them in your pantry.

For this recipe, I use the individual flan mold because this is an authentic flan recipe. However, you can use a larger mold, or silicone molds with different shapes.

In some countries, you can find disposable aluminum molds but make sure to use one that you feel comfortable with when cooking and unmolding.

Ingredients

• 2 1/8 cups (500ml) Whole milk (better if it is fresh)
• 2/3 cups (125g) Sugar (plus 8 tablespoons for the caramel)
• 3 Eggs (medium size)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest

How to Make Spanish Flan Recipe – Step by Step Guide

1. To start making the best flan recipe you’ll have to infuse the milk. This is very simple, just heat the milk with lemon zest and vanilla extract, and when it starts to boil remove it from the heat. Let it cool for 30 minutes as it gains the flavor from the zest and the extract.

2. In the meantime grab a separate bowl and mix eggs with sugar, stirring gently. Be careful because if you beat the eggs they’ll get cooked with the sugar and you’ll have scrambled eggs instead of flan.

3. Then add the milk and continue to stir until the sugar has dissolved. Run the mixture through a fine strainer to remove the zest and prevent sugar crystals from forming.

4. Now grab the individual molds and add 1 tablespoon of sugar to each. With the help of the stove fire, make what is called a dry caramel, which is basically heating that sugar until it becomes a caramel. Use a metal or aluminum mold instead of silicone, if it is silicone, don’t make the caramel.

5. Preheat the oven for 15 minutes at 180°C or 356°F.

6. Up next fill the molds with the mixture slowly, avoiding air bubbles. Put them in a deep tray with an inch of water, to cook them with the bain-marie method. Cook for 25 or 30 minutes at 180 ° C or until when you pass a toothpick it comes out dry.

7. To finish this easy flan recipe, let them sit until they reach room temperature. Put them in the fridge for at least 8 hours or overnight, so they cool completely. 

8. Once they are cold, remove the mold and serve them. If the caramel is completely hardened, then you can heat them a little bit on the stove to make it easier to unmold.

Substitution of Ingredients

If you take a look at the flan ingredients, then you’ll see they are pretty basic and easy to find. 

This is great because you can make flan recipes with only a few ingredients, and you can also create new flavors by doing some changes.

For example, you can make a chocolate flan. All you have to do is to add 80g (or 5 to 6 tablespoons) of cocoa powder instead of the lemon zest while you’re infusing the milk. 

This way it’ll take on the chocolate flavor, and you’ll have a chocolate flan.

This is a classic flan de Leche recipe, though you can find other recipes that are from sweet condensed milk or heavy cream. 

I recommend only using milk and keeping it simple, but if you don’t have enough milk you can use half of the milk and half heavy cream (like 1 cup of each). 

Another substitution that you can make, or rather an improvement is making the Spanish pumpkin flan cake or tocino de cielo which are just incredibly delicious.

If you liked this recipe then you should definitely try other Spanish desserts or sweet recipes, such as the authentic churros recipe from Spain, Spanish hot chocolate recipe, and Spanish chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Tips on Serving Spanish Flan Recipe

As I told you before, the recipe for flan is one of the most famous and best Spanish desserts, so it is typically eaten as a dessert or as an afternoon snack. 

This is a traditional flan recipe, but you can give it different toppings to make unique twists on the recipe. Top it with whipped cream, dulce de leche, berry jam, etc.

Remember that this is a caramel flan recipe, so it is already pretty sweet. If you want to add some texture to your flan dessert you can add some chopped nuts for topping.

The delightful crema Catalana, the natillas de leche, and the Spanish orange flan are other recipes similar to this Spanish caramel flan recipe but have a spicy flavor thanks to the cinnamon.

There are other delicious recipes that you must try if you’re craving Spanish desserts and that as the Leche frita recipe, Spanish rice pudding, or the lemon olive oil cake.

How to Store Spanish Flan Recipe

This recipe for flan, like others, already calls for a while in the refrigerator, so this means that it can last up to 5 days in the fridge without problems.

You must know that Spanish flan cannot be frozen. This dessert is based on egg and milk, so if you freeze it, these will cut. 

Also, the flan would lose its characteristic texture, so if someone recommends that you freeze flan, ignore them.

Recipe Card: Spanish Flan Recipe

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