Keto Flan

Low Carb Flan Recipe

This delicious keto flan has very simple ingredients that can be found in your kitchen. All you need is three large eggs, one egg yolk, a type of nut milk (I used unsweetened macadamia nut milk, but coconut milk or almond milk also work), heavy whipping cream, sugar free sweetener (erythritol, monkfruit blend or anything else that measures cup for cup with sugar) , lemon zest, and vanilla extract. Our recipe is creamy, smooth, and tastes just like regular flan! The best part is unlike most keto flan recipes, we have perfected the egg to egg yolk ratio, which cuts down on the eggy flavor. Try this recipe! You won’t regret it.

What is Flan?

Flan is a fantastic baked, creamy, custard dessert generally made with egg, milk, and sugar as the base ingredients. It is typically served chilled with a layer of caramel sauce on top. Although the original recipe uses sugar and caramel, our keto flan recipe calls for a sugar-free sweetener for the flan and sugar free caramel sauce for the top.

While you may think of Flan as a Spanish dessert, it surprisingly dates back to the Roman Empire. During the Roman Empire, chickens were domesticated, leading to a surplus of chicken eggs. People began to experiment with new dishes made up of eggs, and though most of them were savory, a few desserts were created, including a custard dessert topped with honey.

The Roman Empire then conquered nearly all of Europe, and other countries began to make their own versions of flan. Today, the Spanish and Mexican versions of flan are the most popular. The Spaniards were the ones to first top the custard with the clear caramel sauce, and the Mexican version took it one step further, creating new flavors of flan such as coffee and coconut. YUM!

And of course, we turned this into keto flan by using alternative sweeteners, cream and nut milk (macadmia nut milk, coconut milk or almond milk) instead of milk.

What Does Flan Taste Like?

Flan itself has a smooth, milky taste that feels almost comforting when combined with the rich flavor of caramel on top of the flan. The caramel is also different from the typical caramel you would think of; it is more of a liquid, clear sauce rather than a thick caramel sauce. And the keto caramel sauce we use in this recipe creates a similar effect. This light sauce is perfect for soaking into the custard texture of flan to create a creme caramel. Even though a lousy recipe can lead to an eggy taste, our recipe for keto flan uses an extra egg yolk to have a ratio of 4 egg yolk to 3 egg whites, allowing the other flavors such as the slight vanilla flavor to come through.

Water Bath

The water bath is a significant step to making your flan. The water bath regulates the temperature of the flan so that it cooks evenly within the dish. This step is essential to get the creamy texture of the flan, so you have to make sure you don’t skip this step!

The vessel you pour the flan mixture into can be a ramekin, loaf pan or small cake pan. Depending on the size of your pan, your cooking times may vary.

When you are ready to serve your flan, and your flan does not fall out of the baking dish and onto the plate, you must put the flan in a hot water bath for between 5-10 minutes to make sure the caramel is melted.

Tips for the Perfect Flan

•  Don’t Over Bake: If you overbake your flan, your keto flan will result in a rubbery texture from the overcooked eggs.
• Don’t Under Bake: On the contrary, if you under bake the flan, it will result in a flan that isn’t set in the middle. To test to see if the flan is ready, you can lightly touch it and make sure it only slightly jiggles.
• Use a water bath to regulate temperature or melt caramel so that the flan comes out of the dish.
• Chill it: Refrigerating the flan after it’s baked will help the custard solidify and set. Flan also tastes better when it is chilled.

Storage

As a chilled dessert, keto flan is perfect for storing in the refrigerator. The caramel on top of the flan will also soak into the custard better, giving it more of that rich, burnt caramel taste. Even though the flan can be stored for up to 3 days in the refrigerator, it is not recommended to freeze the flan since it will change the texture of the custard.