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–+ servings
A Caramel Custard in a Rectangular Dish
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Velvety Caramel Custard or Caramel Flan

A velvety luscious dessert that turns out so beautifully if you follow a few simple steps!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Servings 10
Author Sarah Mir

Equipment

  • 1 5*7 loaf pan or a 8 inch round pan
  • A roasting pan large enough to fit the custard pan (above)
  • A blender or an Immersion blender

Ingredients

Caramel

  • ½-2/3 cup sugar (⅔ for a round pan, ½ for a loaf)
  • ½ cup water

Custard

  • 2 cups Milk Whole preferred, but nothing lower than 2%
  • 1 cup Cream Whipping or Table, either is fine. Half in Half works too
  • ¾ cup Sugar
  • 6 Eggs
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • ½ tsp Salt

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F and place the roasting pan with an inch or two of water inside the oven.

Caramel

  • Pour the water into a heavy bottomed pan and then sprinkle your sugar over top. Do not stir.
    Three-step process for Caramel Custard: 1) Sugar mixture boiling in a pot, 2) Mixture turning golden brown, 3) Caramel poured into a rectangular baking pan. Each step is labeled with numbers 1, 2, and 3.
  • Keep the pan on medium heat and keep a close eye on the sugar, but again do not stir.
  • As the sugar turns a honey color watch carefully, you want a dark amber liquid, but this happens very fast. You can swirl the pan gently to even the caramelizing
  • As soon as it turns a beautiful amber colour pour it into your custard dish.

Custard

  • There is loads of beautiful caramel flavour still in the pan you used for caramelizing the sugar so pour your liquids into the pan along with the sugar and the salt and warm through stirring occasionally. Take your milk off the heat.
    A close-up of milk being poured from a glass measuring cup into a speckled gray saucepan on a kitchen counter, the first step in preparing creamy Caramel Custard.
  • Crack 6 eggs into your blender along with the vanilla extract and pulse/blend slightly to create an even mix.
    Side-by-side images show a person in a maroon shirt blending ingredients; the left blender holds a yellow caramel custard mixture, while the right contains a smooth, creamy light blend.
  • Now while your blender is running on low pour the milk mix into the blender through the feed tube/opening, stop running the blender as soon as it is all in. If you are not comfortable pouring while blending then just wait for your milk to cool to room temperature and pour it directly into the blender.
  • Pour the mixture into your caramel dish, you can remove the foam from the top.
    Split image: Left shows caramel custard batter being poured into a loaf pan; right shows the loaf pan in a larger pan, with water being poured around it for a water bath, all on a marble countertop.
  • Place the pan inside the roasting pan with water and gently pour in more hot water so that only the top inch of the pan isn't submerged.
  • Bake until the sides are set and the center is still jiggly, 50- 55 minutes for a loaf pan, 40-45 for a round pan. When you touch the top it will seem soft but set.
  • Cool completely (4 hours+ in the fridge) then run a knife along the edges to seperate them. Invert in a dish with high sides and pour the remaining caramel sauce in the pan into another small bowl for your grateful loved ones.

Video

Notes

  • If you want to skip warming the milk in the caramel pan then simply pour it into the blender as is.
  • If some of the caramel stays stuck to the bottom of the pan after you flip the custard/flan then pour over some boiling water to loosen it up 
  • For more tips and tricks please read the blog post!