Once, I have watched my cousins, who live in the province, prepare the Leche Flan mixture sooo meticulously and I think me and my family have tried to make our own Leche Flan at home a long, long time ago. But nothing...nothing that we make at home comes close to the Leche Flan that they make at the province.
Hence, I am aware of the fact that making the perfect Leche Flan takes a lot of great care and effort...and maybe a secret or two!
There's no question for me what a perfect Leche Flan is. To me, a perfect Leche Flan has no bubbles/holes in it (some call it weeping or syneresis) and, most of all, it just melts in your mouth. Heavenly! :-)
SWEET INSPIRATIONS & SPOONER'S MODIFICATIONS
And so my quest for the perfect Leche Flan began with a lot of research. I have learned that...
- Leche Flan may be made out of egg yolks only, or egg yolks and egg whites. For my recipe, I chose to use egg yolks only as it will result to a richer flan.
- Leche Flan may be cooked through steaming or bain-marie. I have always known that steaming is the only way to cook Leche Flan and so I wanted to try the bain-marie technique.
- There are different ways to caramelize the sugar, which is found in the bottom of the aluminum molds. Also, there are different sugar-water proportions that are suggested by the recipes that I have looked up. For my recipe, I have chosen the 1 cup sugar:1/2 cup water proportion and Option 2 on how to caramelize the sugar. Here are the options available:
Suggested sugar-water proportion are as follows:
Sugar only
1 cup sugar : 3/4 cup water
1 cup sugar : 1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar : 1 cup water
Options on how to caramelize the sugar are as follows:
Options on how to caramelize the sugar are as follows:
OPTION 1
Caramelize the sugar (only) in each of the aluminum molds by placing them on a stove top, one at a time. Alternatively, the aluminum molds, which contains sugar (only), can be placed inside the oven.
OPTION 2
Caramelize your desired proportion of sugar and water in a saucepan, bring it to a boil for a few minutes. Then pour the caramelized sugar into the aluminum molds.
- There are many recipes out there that suggest different egg-milk proportions. Most of them depends on how much a can of milk contains. But since milk packaging vary (in my case, Philippines vs USA), I decided to make my recipe's ingredients more definite or universal, for lack of better term, by using cups or ounces that doesn't depend on how much there is in a canned milk. To illustrate, here are some of the egg-milk proportions suggested by recipes that use egg yolks only:
10 yolks : 1 1/3 can evaporated milk (a total of 18.67 oz) : 1 can condensed milk (12 oz)
10 yolks : 1 can evaporated milk (390 g) : 1 can condensed milk (390 g)
12 yolks : 2 cans evaporated milk (2x400 g) : 1 can condensed milk (400 g)
12 yolks : 1 can milk (16 oz) : 1 can condensed milk (14 oz)
4 yolks : 1 can evaporated milk (no specific measurement provided)
SPOONED SWEETS
Total Cooking and Prep Time: about 2 hrs
Servings: 2 oval aluminum molds
Ingredients:
For the caramelized sugar coating:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 6 egg yolks (from cold eggs, i.e., straight from the fridge)
- 1 cup (8 oz) evaporated milk
- 1 cup (8 oz) condensed milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/8 tsp lemon extract
For the caramelized sugar coating:
- Mix the sugar and water in a small saucepan to ensure that the sugar is thoroughly covered by water.
- Place the saucepan over low-medium heat, and bring it to a boil, about 5 to 10 minutes. DO NOT STIR. Let the sugar caramelize and wait until it changes its color from white to amber or golden brown. DO NOT BURN THE SUGAR. The darker the sugar, the bitter it will be.
- Since the caramelized sugar can quickly cool and harden, quickly pour and divide the caramelized sugar into the two aluminum molds. Working quickly, spread the caramelized sugar evenly on the bottom of the aluminum molds by tilting the molds from side to side. Cool completely.
- Preheat oven at 325 F.
- While the eggs are still cold (as this will make this step easier), separate the yolks from the whites (I did this with my bare hands). Remove all white part of egg as much as possible. (TIP: "Once cracked, eggs will keep in the refrigerator a couple of days if tightly sealed. Leftover egg whites can be stored in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator for 7-10 days or frozen for a month. A good way to freeze egg whites is to place them in individual plastic ice cube trays. Once frozen, transfer the whites to a plastic freezer bag. To thaw, simply place in refrigerator overnight. After freezing, the whites tend to be watery and are best used in recipes where the whites are not the sole leavening agent." Source: Joyofbaking.com)
- In a big glass bowl, mix the egg yolks, evaporated milk and condensed milk by using a fork. Very slowly stir the flan mixture in one circular direction to avoid introducing “foams”/bubbles into it. Set aside for a few minutes so that the flan mixture reaches room temperature.
- While waiting for the flan mixture to reach room temperature, prepare the bain-marie. Get a big baking pan/roasting tray that is slightly taller than the aluminum molds. Put the pan/tray inside your pre-heated oven then carefully fill it halfway with water (if warm water is immediately available for use, the better).
- When the flan mixture is at room temperature, prepare a medium-sized glass bowl and put a strainer over it. Place and secure (I used clothes pin) a clean cheesecloth/folded handkerchief over the strainer. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, spoon the flan mixture into the cheesecloth/handkerchief. With a bowl scraper/spatula, smoothen the mixture against the cheesecloth/handkerchief and strainer.
- When you have finished straining the mixture, slowly stir the flan mixture in one direction one more time. Again, avoid introducing “foams”/bubbles into it.
- Fill the prepared aluminum molds with the flan mixture until it is 1/2 to 3/4 full.
- Tightly cover the aluminum molds with aluminum foil. If the foil reaches half-way down the molds, fold the foil up. This will make it easier for you to take out the foil especially when you check your cooking flan once in a while.
- Arrange the aluminum molds in the bain-marie. Make sure that the hot water outside reaches the height of the leche flan mixture inside the molds. Maintain this level at all times. If needed, add more water, especially in the middle of the cooking time. (If your aluminum molds float in the water as mine did, place another baking pan over them to hold the molds in place.)
- Bake the flan for around 30-45 minutes at 325 F.
- After 30-45 mins, turn up the heat to 350 F and bake the leche flan for another 20 to 25 minutes. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick in the center of the flan. The toothpick should come out clean.
- When the flans are cooked, let it cool and reach room temperature. Then place them in the refrigerator for a few hours.
- To unmold the flan faster and cleanly, get a pan of hot water and let the leche flan’s cold aluminum mold rest gently on this water bath for a few minutes. Then run a clean, smooth (non-serrated) knife around the edges of the mold to loosen the Leche Flan. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the Leche Flan and gently press down. Let the caramel from the bottom of the mold ooze up through the sides. Take out the plastic wrap. Place a platter on top of the aluminum mold and quickly turn upside down to position the golden brown caramel on top.
I thought that I made a lot of caramelized sugar. It turned out that I'm not the only one who have a sweet tooth! :-)
SPOONER'S VERDICT
I'm very happy with how my Leche Flan turned out!
They are rich, creamy, had that melts-in-your-mouth feel, and, most of all, it didn't have any "foams"/bubbles within!
My husband really loves it and my mother-in-law even asked for my ingredients and technique!
NEXT SPOONING...
- I will try to introduce egg white to the next batch(es) that I'm gonna make and find out which egg white-egg yolk proportion will work best.
- I will either increase my lemon extract measurement or use lemon zest. Maybe I will try adding cinnamon too.
- I saw this Leche-Flan-with-a-twist recipe (i.e., Creamy Caramel Flan with Cream Cheese recipe) online and I really want to try it sometime! :-)
But for now...'til our next...
Sweet Spooning!
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