Leche Flan is a decadent Filipino custard that's a truly special treat. It's luxurious enough for holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, family reunions, and birthdays. But also great to make as a casual after dinner dessert.
If you're looking for a luxurious, decadent dessert that will impress guests, make this leche flan recipe.
This is a classic Filipino dessert that I ate many times growing up. Every bite is soft and pillowy, with smooth vanilla egg custard that melts in your mouth.
I hope you love this Filipino egg tart recipe as much as my family does!
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🇵🇭 What is Filipino Leche Flan?
You might already know of flan, a Mexican custard dessert made with eggs, sugar, and milk.
Filipino leche flan is similar to Mexican flan, but it tends to have more eggs. Therefore, Filipino leche flan sets up a little firmer than Mexican flan.
Both are equally delicious!
🥛 5-ingredient Leche Flan
Eggs - This is an egg custard dessert, so not surprisingly, you need a LOT of egg yolks. You'll need a straight dozen - 12 egg yolks - to be exact. Save the egg whites and use them for a meringue either in this Taisan Filipino cake loaf, or these Mini Pavlova Cakes!
Condensed milk AND evaporated milk - This Filipino egg custard dessert gets its creaminess thanks to sweetened condensed milk AND evaporated milk. The sweetened condensed milk contains a bit of sugar, whereas the evaporated milk does not. So, the evaporated milk is used here to add creaminess without additional sweetness.
Sugar - Some granulated sugar adds the official sweetness to this dish, and creates that caramelized top. Read the step-by-step instructions below to learn how to melt sugar for flan.
Vanilla - Use pure vanilla extract, which gives flan that classic bakery aroma and rich vanilla custardy flavor.
✅ Step-by-step instructions
Exact measurements of ingredients and instructions are in the printable recipe card toward the bottom of this post. Here are some helpful tips to guide you as you make this recipe.
Lightly grease 6 high-sided ramekins with butter and line the bottoms with parchment paper. See the photos below for examples of two different shapes of ramekins I've used that work for this recipe. Set the ramekins aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, evaporated milk, condensed milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. Set aside.
2. In a heavy bottom pot over medium heat, whisk together the light brown sugar and water and cook until the sugar has dissolved. Then lower the heat and continue whisking until the mixture has thickened slightly and is a golden brown.
3. Working quickly, use a spoon to divide even amounts of the melted brown sugar between 6 ramekins, which we're using as the leche flan containers for this recipe. Gently tilt ramekins from side to side to coat the entire bottom with melted sugar. Allow the sugar to set and slightly harden, which takes just a couple of minutes.
4. Pour the egg yolk milk mixture through a sieve evenly into each ramekin.
5. Place the ramekins onto a rimmed baking sheet, then pour in boiling water into the baking sheet just about ¾" to 1" deep.
6. Carefully place the baking sheet into the middle oven rack and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, just until the custard centers are set and no longer very jiggly.
7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool at room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, just until the leche flans are chilled, or up to overnight.
8. Serve in ramekins. Or, run a thin butter knife along the side edges or each ramekin to loosen the edges and then carefully flip ramekins over plates and serve on plates.
👩🏻🍳 Recipe FAQs
Leche flan is a Filipino dessert. It was brought over to the Philippines during the Spanish colonization, so it is believed that it has origins in the regions on the border of Spain and France.
Mexican flan uses whole eggs, whereas Filipino leche flan uses egg yolks. Therefore, Filipino flan tends to set up firmer than Mexican flan.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
The answer to this is yes and no. Yes, you can freeze flan. But should you? I recommend NOT freezing flan. Custard does not freeze well, no matter how well you wrap and store it in the freezer. But the real difference is when you thaw the flan to enjoy it after it's been frozen: leche flan tends to seep moisture as it thaws and the texture of the flan will be all wrong. You will also lose some flavor during the freezing process.
That said, if you really want to try to freeze some leche flan for later, wrap it well in plastic wrap and then store in an airtight, freezer-friendly container or bag. Store in the coolest part of the freezer with decent air circulation around the flan, for up to one month.
🍽 What to serve with this Filipino dessert
This custard dessert is a delicious way to finish up a Filipino feast. Start with some Pandesal (Filipino bread rolls), Lumpia (Filipino egg rolls), and Filipino Macaroni Salad.
Main dishes like Caldereta and Instant Pot Chicken Adobo are nice preludes to desserts like this leche flan.
If you want to make more Filipino desserts, try these colorful and yummy Ube White Chocolate Chip Cookies or Turon, Filipino banana lumpia.
🍳 Kitchen tools and equipment
For this Filipino Leche Flan recipe, you just need a few basic kitchen tools:
Llanera or Ramekins - Leche flan is traditionally made in oval mold leche flan pans known as Llaneras. You can also use 6 heatproof, 6-ounce ramekins for this recipe. Make sure you do not get low-sided, shallow ramekins; the custard needs ramekins with medium to high sides.
Alternatively, you can use an 8-inch round cake pan. Be sure to grease the ramekins or cake pan well with butter and/or line with parchment paper to make the leche flan lift easier from the ramekins. I tend to grease the ramekins AND add a layer of parchment paper to ensure the dessert doesn't stick.
Mixing bowl - Use a large mixing bowl to mix the eggs, milks, and sugar.
Heavy bottom pot - A heavy bottom pot like a Dutch oven will work to make the caramel.
Wooden spoon - You'll need a wooden spoon or a heatproof silicone spatula to make the caramel.
Sieve - You'll need a sieve to pour the custard through into the ramekins, to ensure you have smooth custard.
🇵🇭 More Filipino recipes
Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you really loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
Leche Flan
Equipment
- 6 6-ounce Ramekins or one (1) 9-inch round cake pan
Ingredients
- 12 large egg yolks
- 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
- 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup light brown sugar
Instructions
- Lightly grease 6 ramekins with butter and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aide.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, evaporated milk, condensed milk, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
- In a heavy bottom pot over medium heat, whisk together the light brown sugar and water and cook until the sugar has dissolved. Then lower the heat and continue whisking until the mixture has thickened slightly and is a golden brown.
- Use a spoon to divide even amounts of the melted brown sugar between 6 ramekins. Gently tilt ramekins from side to side to coat the entire bottom with melted sugar. Allow the sugar to set and slightly harden, which takes just a couple of minutes.
- Pour the egg yolk milk mixture through a sieve evenly into each ramekin.
- Place the ramekins onto a rimmed baking sheet, then pour in boiling water into the baking sheet just about ¾" to 1" deep.
- Carefully place the baking sheet into the middle oven rack and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, just until the custard centers are set and no longer very jiggly. Remove from the oven and allow to cool at room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, just until the leche flans are chilled, or up to overnight.
- Serve in ramekins. Or, run a thin butter knife along the side edges or each ramekin to loosen the edges and then carefully flip ramekins over plates and serve on plates.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is a general estimate. Actual nutrition details may vary depending on the exact foods & brands you use to make this recipe. It does not take into account any substitutions, toppings, or optional ingredients.
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