Caramelized coconut flan is a Mexican staple made wholesome with coconut milk: a dark layer of caramelized honey at the bottom, silky coconut custard infused with vanilla bean and cinnamon in the middle. The caramelized honey yields a light sauce with a nutty flavor when the flan is inverted. Chilled four hours and served with whipped coconut cream, it's a make-ahead dessert that looks spectacular.
A Mexican staple made wholesome with coconut milk. A layer of caramelized honey yields a light sauce with a nutty flavor.
½ c. raw honey
2 T. filtered water
1 lemon, juiced
½ c. Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk (recipe below)
1 can organic full-fat coconut milk
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped out
1 cinnamon stick
¼ t. sea salt
3 pastured eggs
2 pastured egg yolks
Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk
1 can organic full-fat coconut milk
¼ c. raw honey
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F (165°C). Have ready a 2-quart nonstick flan mold and a large roasting pan.
In a small saucepan, combine raw honey and filtered water. Cook over medium heat until mixture reduces and turns a dark caramel color, about 280F (138°C) (warning: it will burn at 300F (150°C)+). Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice (mixture will bubble a bit) and pour into flan mold. Tilt the mold to swirl the caramelized honey around the sides. Place the mold into the roasting pan and set aside.
Prepare the Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk by combining 1 can coconut milk and ¼ c. raw honey in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture turns slightly caramel in color and reduces to ½ cup total volume, about 20-30 minutes.
To the completed Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk, add 1 can coconut milk, vanilla bean (seeds AND bean), cinnamon stick, and sea salt. Whisk well and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, cover with a lid, and let steep 10 minutes.
In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and egg yolks. Add a small amount of the warm coconut milk to the eggs and whisk quickly to prevent the eggs from cooking. Add the remaining coconut mixture to the bowl, whisking constantly. Pour the entire mixture through a strainer set over a large measuring cup (4-cup minimum), discard the bits in the strainer, and pour the coconut/egg mixture into the flan mold.
Create a water bath by filling the roasting pan halfway with warm water, careful not to get any water in the flan mold. Carefully place in the oven and cook 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until center is set and jiggles slightly. Remove from oven and cool the flan completely in the water bath. Transfer flan to the refrigerator and chill a minimum of 4 hours before serving.
To serve, run a knife around the edge of the mold to loosen the flan. Place a serving plate over the mold and invert to remove flan. Serve chilled as-is or top with Whipped Coconut Cream.
A free-form pie filled with warm, juicy blueberries. Allowing the galette to cool 30 minutes after cooking will ensure a moist, buttery crust.
Blueberry Filling
3 c (35°F). fresh blueberries
½ lemon, juiced
1 T. tapioca starch
Crust
1 batch Almond Flax Pastry Dough
1 pastured egg + 1 t. water, for glazing
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F (180°C).
Mix blueberries, lemon juice, and tapioca starch in a large bowl. Set aside.
Cut 2 sheets of parchment to the size of your baking sheet. Between the 2 sheets, roll out pastry dough to ½” thickness, creating an oblong circle. Move the sheets and dough carefully to your baking sheet and remove the top piece of parchment.
Dump the blueberry mixture into the middle of the pastry dough, leaving a 1-2” border of dough. Moving gently around the circle, lift the crust onto the blueberries, overlapping and securing as you go. Once the entire edge is pressed up against the blueberries, smooth any cracks in the dough with your fingers, especially paying attention to the bottom edge (area closest to the pan) of the pie.
Whisk together 1 egg with 1 t. water. Using a pastry brush, coat the entire surface of the dough.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool minimum of 30 minutes before serving (this will keep the pie from crumbling much when cutting into it).
Serve as-is or top with Whipped Coconut Cream Topping.
Note: to make this sugar-free, sub 2 T. Date Paste for the raw honey in the Almond Flax Pastry Dough.
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Pro Tips
- Watch the caramel like a hawk — cook the honey and water to about 280°F and pull it immediately; it burns at 300°F+ and turns bitter beyond rescue.
- Stir the lemon juice into the hot caramel carefully (it bubbles aggressively) and swirl the mold quickly to coat the sides before the caramel sets.
- Temper the eggs properly: whisk a small amount of warm coconut milk into the eggs first, then add the rest while whisking constantly — this prevents scrambled bits.
- Strain the custard before pouring — catching the vanilla bean fibers and any cooked egg bits is what gives flan its signature silky texture.
- Cool the flan completely in the water bath before chilling; a 4-hour minimum sets the custard cleanly for a picture-perfect inversion.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far ahead can I make flan?
It's a perfect make-ahead dessert — chill it overnight if you like. Run a knife around the mold edge and invert onto a plate just before serving.
Why use a water bath?
The bain-marie cooks the custard gently and evenly, preventing the rubbery texture and cracked surface that direct oven heat produces.
What is sweetened condensed coconut milk?
Coconut milk simmered with honey until reduced to half its volume and lightly caramelized — about 20 to 30 minutes. It gives the flan its creamy sweetness without dairy.
Can I make it without the caramel?
You can, though the caramelized honey layer is half the experience — it becomes the sauce when the flan is inverted. At minimum, grease the mold well so the flan releases cleanly.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 325F. Have ready a 2-quart nonstick flan mold and a large roasting pan.
- In a small saucepan, combine raw honey and filtered water.
- Cook over medium heat until mixture reduces and turns a dark caramel color, about 280F (warning: it will burn at 300F+).
- Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice (mixture will bubble a bit) and pour into flan mold. Tilt the mold to swirl the caramelized honey around the sides.
- Place the mold into the roasting pan and set aside. Prepare the Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk by combining 1 can coconut milk and ¼ c. raw honey in a medium saucepan.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture turns slightly caramel in color and reduces to ½ cup total volume, about 20-30 minutes. To the completed Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk, add 1 can coconut milk, vanilla bean (seeds AND bean), cinnamon stick, and sea salt.
- Whisk well and bring to a simmer.
- Remove from heat, cover with a lid, and let steep 10 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and egg yolks.
- Add a small amount of the warm coconut milk to the eggs and whisk quickly to prevent the eggs from cooking.
- Add the remaining coconut mixture to the bowl, whisking constantly.
- Pour the entire mixture through a strainer set over a large measuring cup (4-cup minimum), discard the bits in the strainer, and pour the coconut/egg mixture into the flan mold. Create a water bath by filling the roasting pan halfway with warm water, careful not to get any water in the flan mold. Carefully place in the oven and cook 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until center is set and jiggles slightly.
- Remove from oven and cool the flan completely in the water bath.
- Transfer flan to the refrigerator and chill a minimum of 4 hours before serving. To serve, run a knife around the edge of the mold to loosen the flan.
- Place a serving plate over the mold and invert to remove flan.
- Serve chilled as-is or top with Whipped Coconut Cream.
- A free-form pie filled with warm, juicy blueberries. Allowing the galette to cool 30 minutes after cooking will ensure a moist, buttery crust. Blueberry Filling
- 3 c. fresh blueberries
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 1 T. tapioca starch Crust
- 1 batch Almond Flax Pastry Dough
- 1 pastured egg + 1 t. water, for glazing Preheat oven to 350F.
- Mix blueberries, lemon juice, and tapioca starch in a large bowl.
- Set aside.
- Cut 2 sheets of parchment to the size of your baking sheet. Between the 2 sheets, roll out pastry dough to ½” thickness, creating an oblong circle. Move the sheets and dough carefully to your baking sheet and remove the top piece of parchment. Dump the blueberry mixture into the middle of the pastry dough, leaving a 1-2” border of dough. Moving gently around the circle, lift the crust onto the blueberries, overlapping and securing as you go.
- Once the entire edge is pressed up against the blueberries, smooth any cracks in the dough with your fingers, especially paying attention to the bottom edge (area closest to the pan) of the pie.
- Whisk together 1 egg with 1 t. water.
- Using a pastry brush, coat the entire surface of the dough.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool minimum of 30 minutes before serving (this will keep the pie from crumbling much when cutting into it).
- Serve as-is or top with Whipped Coconut Cream Topping. Note: to make this sugar-free, sub 2 T. Date Paste for the raw honey in the Almond Flax Pastry Dough.
