Perfect Crème Caramel Flan

This perfect crème caramel flan recipe is just the best. It's rich & creamy, soft & smooth, and literally makes my knees go weak!

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 150˚ Celsius or 300˚ Fahrenheit.

Step 2

Place the ramekins into a roasting pan or oven dish that's big enough to accommodate them. They'll be baked in a water bath, to ensure a soft and smooth bake!

Step 3

Place the castor sugar and water into a heavy based saucepan, and place it on a stovetop, on a medium to low heat. Give it a quick stir to spread the water, and then, leave it, without stirring, until it boils and turns a rich amber color. This takes a good 15 minutes or so.

Step 4

TROUBLESHOOTING (for the caramel sauce):

Step 5

Sugar can be tricky to work with, and often crystalizes when heated on a stovetop. If your heat is too high, the water will boil off too quickly, and the castor sugar will crystalize. This happens often, but all is not lost!

Step 6

If this does happen to you, leave it on the stove until all the water has boiled off and it becomes a powdery sugar again. Then, add about three-quarters of a cup of water, turn your heat to medium high, and boil it until it loses about half of its volume. Then, turn the heat to medium, and continue boiling until it turns a rich amber color. It should look shiny and translucent, not dull and cloudy.

Step 7

If you live in South Africa, you’ll almost certainly have to do this method because I’m sure there are anti-caking agents in our sugar that cause it to crystalize.

Step 8

Remove the caramel sauce from the heat, give it a stir, and coat the bottom of the ramekins with it, dividing it equally between them.Give it a swirl, the sugar should coat roughly one-third of the sides. You’ll notice that it hardens as it touches the ramekins, that’s perfect and how it should be!

Step 9

Place the milk, evaporated milk, and whipping cream into a pot, and pop it on a medium heat, on a stovetop, allowing it to heat just to the point where it begins to simmer.

Step 10

While the milk is heating, place the eggs & egg yolks, castor sugar and vanilla essence into a mixing bowl, and whisk by hand to combine.

Step 11

Once the milk has heated, remove it from the heat, and slowly pour the egg mixture into it, whisking while it’s added.

Step 12

Once combined, strain the custard through a sieve, to get any little bits of egg that haven’t broken down, and then place roughly 180ml’s of custard into each ramekin.

Step 13

Pour some warm water into the roasting pan, filling to about half-way up the sides of the ramekins. Carefully place it on the middle shelf of your oven, and bake for 35 -40 minutes, until the custard is cooked through and not wobbly in the middle.

Step 14

Once baked, cover them with clingfilm, and place (standing upright) in the fridge to set for a minimum of 3 hours, but ideally overnight. They keep fresh for about three days, which is a bonus if you want to make these ahead of time!

Step 15

Once set, to plate them, gently run a knife around the top edge, place a plate or bowl over the top, flip them upside-down, and gently shake from side to side until it releases… it is so satisfying to watch the sauce pour out over the top, absolute dessert perfection. Enjoy!

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