Have you every taken any shortcuts on cooking. I did that the first time I made flan (creme caramel). It came back to bite me.
We all think we know what a good cook is supposed to do, and what they’re not supposed to do, but who doesn’t break the golden rules now and then? Here’s your chance to confess. I’ll boldly go where none of us have gone before by revealing my seven culinary sins. Not deadly, mind you – I haven’t killed anyone. Not yet, anyway.
So, confession time! Guaranteed to send the purists running for the hills:
- Pancake mix – this is one I confess to with only a slight blush. I know that it’s quite easy – not to mention healthier and more cost-effective – to make it from scratch, but – life’s too short, so I buy the packet.
- Especially when baking, eggs should be at room temperature, but I rarely plan sufficiently in advance to bring them out of the fridge in time. Good thing I rarely bake! And no matter what they say about refrigerating eggs, there is no way I will store eggs at room temperature in a tropical climate!
- Stock cubes – a real purist’s no-no, but I use them. I do try to use the low-salt, MSG free variety though.
- My pasta isn’t always al-dente. So sue me.
- I sometimes cut lettuce with a knife in order to get that shredded effect. Lettuce is – apparently – supposed to be torn to bits by hand, not cut or sliced, but nobody’s perfect, certainly not me.
- Measuring less than scientifically. Again, this is why it’s a good thing I don’t bake that often.
- I slice and eat cakes while still piping hot, at least when my mother isn’t looking! Seriously though, who can resist?
Here are two rules I used to observe, but recently learned they were myths. Cooking wisdom dictates that one should never immerse mushrooms in water to wash them, because they will absorb it. Apparently this is not the case. The same goes for salting eggplant (US)/aubergine (UK). Lots of recipes instruct you to do this, apparently to draw out the bitterness, but many cooks will attest that it actually doesn’t make that much of a difference.
How about you? Which cooking rules do you admit to breaking?
Aunt Ilana
Flan, inherited from the Spaniards, and common across Latin America, is one of the Dominican's favorite desserts. Learn how to make it with our recipe.
Flan is known as creme caramel in France and flan in Latin America. La Profesora, one of our forum regulars submitted the original recipe upon which we based this one.
Ingredients
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 1/3 cups evaporated milk
- 1 1/3 cups sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
- Mix sugar and water and cook in heavy saucepan over low heat until a thick, dark caramel syrup forms.
- Pour carefully into prepared baking pan and spread all over. Cool down until the caramel hardens.
- Heat oven to 250 ºF (125ºC).
- Mix together egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk.
- Stir in vanilla.
- Sieve to get rid of undissolved egg parts.
- Pour carefully into baking pan, trying not to disturb the caramel layer.
- Bake in hot water bath (bain marie) in oven for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool down to room temperature
- Loosen edges of flan, place a serving plate on top of the mold (one which will retain the syrup) and invert.
- Chill before serving.
Notes
Be very careful with hot caramel, it can cause serious injuries.
Aunt Clara's Kitchen is a collection of traditional Dominican and Dominican-inspired recipes, home ideas, crafts, and the chronicles of Aunt Clara and Aunt Ilana's adventures.
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{ 49 comments… read them below or add one }
What do you mean by bake in a hot water bath? Toy un poco confundida con eso.
if you get the flan wet you can ruin it, so you have to cook it in a hot water bath in the oven.
The correct term would be "bain marie", o "baño maria" in Spanish.
It means to place the pan where u baking the flan in another pan with water, making sure water won't go in the flan pan..
Does it matter what material the flan is baked and/or bain in? Is Glass perferred?
Hi, Aunt clara, can It be use brown sugar instead of white sugar?
Hi Aunt Clara,
What size baking pan should I use? Also, I'm only making half the recipe. I have 4 egg yolks left over from a tres leches I made yesterday. Also, can it be a glass or ceramic baking pan?
Thanks
I use a 8" round one for this amount, it ends up a bit flat though, if you want it higher try a 6". Yes, it can be ceramic, I have never tried glass but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
So we are baking at 400?
How many servings in this?
Nevermind.
Omg just made this and followed each step. My first flan ever came out PERFECT!!! Wish i can upload a picture. Its delicious!!!!
Send me one at aunt.clara at dominicancooking dot com and I will put it in our Facebook page.
I think that individual ceramic baking dishes work best!
Was just wondering if I wanted to make a larger amount would I just double each ingredient?
This recipe saved my baker integrity. I was assign to make a flan for the thanksgiving dinner. I couldn't say no. But since I haven't bake deserts in long time, I was not sure were to start. Then I googled flan, and when I saw dominican flan my face brightten.
Thank you soooooo much!
Glad to hear that!
im a bad cook but this this came out perrrfecto thank you sooooooooooooooo muchnow i can make this specail flan for my son eric anytime
I guess you are not so a bad cook after all.
I've seen many different toppings so whats a classic dominican topping for the flan?
Try adding some cherrys, it can be out of a jar or fresh… i think the jar ones taste better on the flan. you can also add pineapple, or both!!
Hi Aunt Clara. I'm a bit confused about "prepared baking pan". What do you suggest we do to the pan? Thank you!
See step 1.
Hi…I have been using this receipe for the past 2 years and it is my familys favorite!!! thank you. I was curious because i was just made aware of a FLAN CAKE??? I was wondering if you have tried this and if you were going to post a reciepe? Keep the postings coming they are very delicious and helpful. Happy New Year
I was wondering, which vanilla works best…clear or brown?
I prefer clear for the flan, but use what you have.
O man I think I butchered it. I used milk n condensed.vwill it b the syoame? Instead of can milk?
Omg! I love flan! I'm trying to make it now, but when I started melting the sugar, it wouldn't melt! Then I added the water to the pot and it just became crystalyzed again! I don't think I'm doing it right…I just poured the liquidy stuff into the baking pan and poured the egg/milk mixture on top of it….it kind of just blended all together! Let's see how it comes out in an hour!
te pido un favor me puedes decir la receta para hacer el chesillo
Ramona, tenemos muchísimas recetas, incluyendo esa. Te aconsejo siempre buscarlas primero (hay un buscador al tope de la columna derecha, o viendo el enlace de recetas de postres en el menú principal).
How do you make a flan de limon is it the same way but you add lemon?
I have never tried a lemon flan, or made it. Sorry.
Can regular milk be used instead of evaporated milk ?
my caramel won’t go dark
what could I be doing wrong?
It needs to boil more.
I recently starting making the caramel WITHOUT water. Just sugar. It thickens faster and has the DARK caramel color.
My mom is coming to visit me this weekend and I can not wait to make this for her as a surprise!
I dont know if i have gone crazy or what, but i remember this recipe being different one year ago. i made this flan many times last year n i thought i remember it being half cup water, half cup sugar. 1 1/2 cups evaporated milk and 1 1/2 cups condensed milk w 8 egg yolks.. was the recipe changed? Or have i gone crazy?
No, I am rewriting a lot of old recipes to make them clearer and easier to follow, but also because I want all the recipes to have the same amount of servings (6). The result in all cases is either the same or better.
My caramel won’t go dark no matter how long I boil. Please help!
Second time making flan…. Lets see how it goes. My oven is too small so i remembered how my ex mother in law use to do the baino de maria…. Stove top! Might take 2 hrs but i have all the time.
Hello,
I made this today. The flavor is great, but the consistency of my flan wasn’t right. It was off by just a little… It came out a bit thicker. I used a darker coated pan, and it took a bit longer for me to cook in my oven.
Any thoughts on what I may have done wrong? Or what I can do to improve the texture?
I beat the yolks before adding it to the mixture to be sure it was nice and smooth…
Thanks for the recipe!
Love your site! Just wanted to share that when I lived in Santiago, my cook, Dulce, used to make an incredible flan on the stove top. She made it basically the same way you do but in a double boiler. Sometimes added rum or a bit of lime rind. She taught me to make it before I left. Always comes out great!
Hi, Aunt Clara I LOVE this website and it has helped me a lot… But I just tried making this and couldn’t even start the flan itself because the caramel was a complete disaster. After boiling for nearly two hours and still looking clear, the sugar crystalized and became hard and it stuck to the pot. I found out that it was because I stirred it and you are not supposed to. Please write that on the recipe so newbies like me won’t make the same mistake
I will try to make it again tomorrow. Please keep up the amazing work!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. I gave it a try today and must say that it’s been over 3 hours and its still not ready.
I’m sure I followed each step carefully but just thought I’d share that it’s taking way over an hour.
Can’t wait to get a taste.
What do you mean “not ready”?
Perhaps your oven is not calibrated correctly, because there is no possible way it would take that long if made correctly, the recipe suggests one hour, but leaves some leeway (“or until…”), as I cannot account for everybody’s oven. Check the comments above, a lot of people had no trouble getting it right. An oven thermometer might be your next acquisition.
Another thing occurred to me: are you sure you measured the ingredients correctly? With a measuring cup?
Thank you so much for replying and your suggestions. I don’t understand what I did wrong, I followed step by step with exact measurements and my oven has always done well with other baking projects I’ve done before.
Yet somehow, the flan still came out good.
I made it for my husbands birthday upon his request and he enjoyed it. So, thank you.
I’d like to give it another try but still questioning what I need to fix. Would hate to wait around that long again.
Omg i have found the most awesome website ever! Was reading the comments for things going wrong with the syrup/caremel step and my sister taught me how to make this when i was like fifteen so have been making it for 12 yrs and what i do as i dont make it in separate ramekins or anything like that. I make the syrup in the pan im gonna do the flan in. I have a thin metal bowl with a lip its a weird comparison but kind of like what a dog bowl looks like and is made off. It can take the heat and doesnt burn never have a problem getting the color on the sugar and water and then i grab the really hot bowl off the stove and coat the sides a little bit not too high up and the i put the egg condensed milk and evaporated milk in there and i cover it tightly with foil. Also if you are dominican you have the giant rice pot all dominicans have and i fill it a little less then half way with water put the covered bowl in there and boil for an hour never fails EVER EVER!!! I have taught all my friends over the yrs how to make it and they impress everyone they make it for all the time and are sooooo surprised how easy it is to make!!!