Filipino recipe
How to make Leche flan
All over the Philippines, from Spanish flan
A rich caramel custard made with egg yolks, condensed milk and evaporated milk, steamed in an oval tin called a llanera. It is firmer and richer than a European crème caramel, and no fiesta table is complete without it.
Ingredients
- 100 g sugar and 2 tablespoons water, for the caramel
- 8 egg yolks
- 1 can (about 390 g) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 can (about 370 ml) evaporated milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or grated calamansi or lime zest
Method
- Heat the sugar and water in a small pan without stirring until it turns a golden caramel. Pour it at once into a 20 cm round tin or two llaneras and tilt to cover the bottom. Be careful: caramel is very hot.
- Gently whisk the egg yolks, condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla, without making foam. Strain through a sieve onto the caramel.
- Cover the tin with foil and steam over gently simmering water for 40 to 50 minutes, until the custard is set all the way through and a knife in the centre comes out clean.
- Let it cool, then chill for at least 4 hours.
- Run a knife around the edge, turn it out onto a plate and let the caramel run over the top.
Made it at home? Tick it off and it goes into your kitchen passport.
Leche flan uses only egg yolks. A popular story says it began in Spanish times, when egg whites went into the mortar of churches and other buildings and the leftover yolks were turned into desserts.
Take the trip to the Philippines
