This is an EXTREMELY delayed Fiesta Fridays recipe post. I know. I had every intention to stay on schedule with my three-a-week posts (which are usually on Monday, Wednesday and Friday), but I’ve been enjoying my time in the Riviera Maya so much that I decided to take a slight hiatus from the blog. It hasn’t helped that the internet at each of our hotels has been less than stellar. But I’m making up for it with this Flan!
To be honest, flan is not my favorite dessert. I don’t even think it makes the top ten list and I’m pretty sure I’ve never ordered it off a menu. However, a very loyal follower of 24 Carrot Life (Hey, Shashi, if you’re reading!) suggested I try making a lightened up flan, and since it is one of my boyfriend’s favorite desserts I was up for the challenge.
I started out making the flan and I was feeling good about it… until I realized that every recipe I read said you MUST cook flan in a water bath. What’s a water bath, you ask? Basically you put the flan mixture into a dish and then put that dish into a larger one that has about 2 inches of boiling water in it so that the flan cooks slowly and evenly. Well… I didn’t have any pans or dishes that were bigger than my flan dish.
I got a little cocky and thought I could easily handle flan without the water bath. Not so much. The flan ended up with one side overcooked side- puffed up with extra brown edges- and the other side completely undercooked. This didn’t stop me from eating it straight from the dish though, so I knew I had the flavor right and just needed to fix this water bath issue. Enter my best friend who has a much better equipped kitchen here in Oaxaca. Thanks, Aerin!
Second time was a charm (water bath for he win) and the flan was devoured in one day. So, moral of the story is: when they say to make flan in a water bath, listen.
Best part about this flan? It’s a completely lightened up version from your normal restaurant flan. I swapped in truvia and skim milk for the sweetened condensed milk, which helped make each slice just 175 calories, 9 grams of fat, and 15 grams of sugar!! Because of all the eggs and milk, each slice also has 8 grams of protein. I was actually shocked at how good these stats were when I calculated them.
I needed some comparison though, so I checked out the All Recipes Spanish Flan and it has 349 calories per slice. I’d much rather go for the lightened up version and now I want to make this flan every week!
This flan has:
Perfect soft and smooth texture
Caramel sauce you can drizzle on top
Toasted coconut flakes on top
Not to toot my own horn even further, but Daniel and I had some flan yesterday in a restaurant in Tulum and it was actually inedible. So, do me a favor, and even if you don’t like flan, try this recipe out and I think you might be converted.
Are you a flan lover, indifferent, or hater?
- 1/4 cup sugar in the raw
- 1/2 tablespoon water
- 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 1/4 cup skim milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 tablespoon truvia
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Farenheit.
- Boil 2 cups of water over high heat.
- Spray a pan with cooking spray or grease it.
- In a small pot, add the three ingredients for the caramel sauce, mix to combine, and heat over low heat until you see bubbles around the edges.
- Immediately pour the caramel sauce into the pan and slightly shake the pan to evenly distribute. Set aside and let cool while you make the flan mixture.
- Add all flan ingredients to a large bowl.
- With an electric beater, mix for a minute or two, until all of the egg white and yolk is completely combined with the other ingredients.
- Bang the bottom of your mixing bowl against the counter to release most of the air bubbles. There might still be some small ones but try to get rid of as many as you can by dropping the bowl multiple times.
- Pour carefully and slowly over caramel sauce and set in a larger pan. Fill the larger pan with about 1-2 inches of the boiling water.
- Bake for 1 hour, or until a knife inserted near the middle comes out clean.
- Prepare a cookie sheet with ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut.
- Remove flan from the oven, keep the oven at 325 degrees and place coconut in the oven for about 5-10 minutes until golden brown. Keep an eye on the coconut because it will not need long and burns quickly.
- Let it cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for at least an hour and up to overnight. When ready to serve, loosen edges with a knife and invert the baking pan onto a dish. Caramel sauce will pour over.
- Sprinkle toasted coconut on top.
I loooove flan, and my mom does too. It’s good to see a lightened up version! Also, with mother’s day around the corner? Impeccable timing!
Such a great thought for Mother’s Day! Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!