Chill

Vietnamese Coffee Flan

by:
February 17, 2015
4
2 Ratings
Vietnamese Coffee Flan
Photo by Bobbi Lin
  • Prep time 8 hours
  • Cook time 1 hour
  • Serves 6 to 8
Author Notes

Adapted slightly from Gourmet Magazine —Hillary Pollak

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • one 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
  • 3 3/4 cups whole milk
  • 5 large eggs
  • 4 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee dissolved in 4 teaspoons hot water
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
Directions
  1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350° F.
  2. In a small, heavy saucepan, cook the sugar over medium heat, without stirring, until it begins to melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar turns a deep golden color. Immediately pour into a 9-inch round ceramic or glass baking dish or a metal cake pan that's at least 2 inches deep. Tilt the dish to coat bottom (use caution, the dish will be hot). Cool until hardened, 10 to 15 minutes.
  3. Blend the remaining ingredients in a blender, until smooth. Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve over caramel in dish, then transfer dish to a large roasting pan and place it in the oven. Pour enough boiling-hot water into roasting pan to reach halfway up the sides of custard dish. Bake until custard is set but still wobbly in center when gently shaken and a knife inserted in center comes out clean, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Transfer dish to a rack to cool completely, about 40 minutes. Chill flan, covered, until cold, at least 8 hours.
  4. To unmold flan, run a thin knife around edge of dish to loosen the custard. Invert a large platter with a lip over the baking dish. Holding dish and platter securely together, quickly invert and turn out flan onto platter. Caramel will pour out over and around flan.
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  • Grace Lieu
    Grace Lieu
  • Hillary Pollak
    Hillary Pollak
  • rob weaver
    rob weaver
  • Franklin Liao
    Franklin Liao

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6 Reviews

Tam
Tam January 16, 2021
This is my first attempt at flan and I made it in 6 large individual flans. The taste was perfect, creamy, smooth and the flavor of VN coffee. However, half of the caramel was still a hard disk of candied sugar at the bottom of each of the bowls. Two of us still ate each and everyone of them, that's a lot of flan for 2 people. I'm back at it, keeping all else the same, except I used 2/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup water to make the caramel and put all into one 9" deep cake pan. It's in the oven right now. Hoping the caramel will be better but hoping the flan itself will stay the same delicious. I love this recipe as it doesn't require egg yolks and thereby wasting some egg whites. Thank you
 
Grace L.
Grace L. March 21, 2018
Highly recommend this recipe! Tastes exactly like the ones in the restaurants. My whole family loved them, no more having to spend so much money on this!
 
Hillary P.
Hillary P. June 18, 2015
I don't like to drink instant coffee at all, but I find that it provides the perfect coffee flavor in this recipe because it is so concentrated. I think espresso would also work at long as the quantity is equal to about 3 tablespoons.
 
rob W.
rob W. June 18, 2015
It's said that if you are adding wine to a simmering stew or Bourguignon use a wine that you enjoy drinking. I avoid instant coffee at all costs because of its flavor, yet it is the chief flavor ingredient in this recipe. Any suggestions on how to infuse the dessert using freshly ground coffee?
 
Franklin L.
Franklin L. May 26, 2021
@Rob I whole heartedly agree! You can use a steeping method. Put your preferred ground coffee and the milk in a pot. Bring to a simmer and remove from the heat. Allow to steep (like tea) for 30 min or until it comes to room temperature. Strain through fine mesh strainer. Follow the recipe from the beginning.😁
 
bobbidodds
bobbidodds March 25, 2023
LOVE this! thank you:)