Creamy Leche Flan

Leche Flan is a Filipino sweet made of egg yolks and milk. At first, it can be thought of as creamy caramel but Leche Flan is sweeter than creamy caramel. It has been my favorite dessert since elementary. My grandmother used to prepare it for special occasions like Fiestas. Since it’s my favorite, I took the risk of preparing the same since I became interested in cooking. Whenever I prepare Leche Flan, I do not normally add caramel because I do not remember my grandmother prepared Leche Flan with caramel. You may think that I am just an imitator and never an innovator in this case but honestly speaking, I consider caramel as a sweetener-extender. But my grandmother’s version is also delicious even without the caramel and I can consider mine delicious as well (bragging?! :) )

It’s been a challenge for me to prepare one with caramel because I’ve been tasting similar ones and it is more tempting to see and delicious to taste as well. I tried the first time but over cooked it and found my caramel and aluminum container so charcoal like after. Second time, I searched for online recipe and found out that water can be added. My ratio may not be appropriate with each and every ingredient making it watery like and never made caramel at all. Though I asked some caramel experts about how they do it, still I never tried and just contented with my version of Leche Flan without caramel, until today that I decided to try it once more.

First attempt of Leche Flan with Caramel

(texture may not be perfect yet)

Ingredients:
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 small evaporated milk
- 1 small condensed milk
- 1 cup of sugar

What you need:
- steamer
- aluminum container

Directions:
- make sure that containers are ready before you start with the mixture
- on a mixing bowl, separate egg yolks from white
- add condensed and evaporated milk
- mix well until fully blended
- on a pan, heat sugar on a low fire until caramelized
- remove from heat and pour directly to aluminum containers before it cools down
- using a strainer, pour in the egg yolk and milk mixture to the aluminum container with the caramel, making it ¾ high
- cover with plastic or aluminum foil
- steam for 20mins
- remove from heat and place on a plate upside down
- enjoy :)

Excited to have caramel, I added another cup to my one cup preference so it ended up too sweet. I'd better stick to one cup next time.