Leche Flan - Filipino Style
This is my late mother's recipe that I actually learned from my oldest sister, Vicki. One of the few Filipino recipes I know. Simple, inexpensive and delicious!
This is my late mother's recipe that I actually learned from my oldest sister, Vicki. One of the few Filipino recipes I know. Simple, inexpensive and delicious!
- Carbohydrate 43.8202318120073 g
- Cholesterol 412.965301132505 mg
- Fat 19.9868666623369 g
- Fiber 0 g
- Protein 18.2712038811209 g
- Saturated Fat 9.77668143175255 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (205g)
- Sodium 236.242409132198 mg
- Sugar 43.8202318120073 g
- Trans Fat 2.04821910322433 g
- Calories 424 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place a baking pan filled halfway with water on bottom rack of oven.
- In a deep bowl beat eggs with a whisk; add condensed milk do not throw can away, instead, fill it with the Half n' Half or heavy whipping cream (using heavy whipping cream makes the flan richer), then add to eggs and condensed milk in the bowl.
- Add the vanilla and whisk or mix with electric mixer until blended well.
- In round cake pans (at least 2 inches deep, add Karo syrup to coat bottom of pan, then strain the egg mixture into the pan about three-fourths up to the top of pan.
- Carefully place filled pan in center of oven on top rack.
- Allow to bake for approximately 1 hour.
- Stick toothpick in center of flan, if comes out clean, it is cooked.
- Allow to cool and then refrigerate until fully cooled.
- Flip onto a plate that will accomodate the flan and syrup.
- (Straining the mixture, makes the texture creamier when flan is cooked.)
Why does a custard baked in a water bath set smoothly instead of turning into a scrambled mess? Thermal regulation is the mechanism at play here, as surrounding the baking pan with water shields the delicate egg proteins from the direct, aggressive heat of a 350-degree oven. Gentle heat transfer allows the proteins to coagulate into a uniform, velvety gel rather than squeezing out moisture and fracturing.
Egg yolks supply fats and emulsifiers that dictate the final mouthfeel, coating the palate while trapping free water molecules within a dense protein matrix. Heavy whipping cream increases this internal fat content further compared to lighter dairy, yielding a richer texture that resists the graininess caused by overcooking. Straining the liquid batter before baking removes chalazae strands and tiny air bubbles, ensuring zero pockets disrupt the smooth thermal current moving through the mixture.
Dark Karo syrup replaces traditional caramelized table sugar in this specific variation, offering convenience while delivering inverted sugars that resist crystallization during heating. Sucrose molecules normally break down and recombine into crunchy granules if heated unevenly, but commercially prepared glucose syrups remain liquid and pourable once inverted over the baked custard. Coating the cake pan with this syrup creates a hyper-osmotic boundary layer that draws minimal moisture from the custard during storage.
Refrigeration solidifies the structural network fully, demanding a complete chill before inversion onto a serving platter. Chilling halts residual cooking entirely by dropping internal temperatures below 40 degrees, locking the delicate custard shape so it can slide cleanly past the pan walls without tearing its soft perimeter.
