Flan aka creme caramel, gets its name from the French word flaon, which means “flat cake” because of its shape is an extremely international and loved cake across the world. The creamy custard cake thats topped with sweet caramel is literally loved by everyone. Personally, I am not a fan of flan like texture; pudding and jello don’t really do it for me. BUT I love flan even though its texture is so similar.
There is a lot of French influence in Syrian cuisine because when the French invaded and occupied the land they brought with them dessert. The dessert is also part of Spanish cuisine and they took it with them to Mexico during the conquest.
The dessert is first poured into a pan that is coated in sweet caramel and then steam cooked in a bath water. Although it takes only 10-15 minutes to put together, you do need about 2 hours from start to finish. First it has to steam cook in the oven for about an hour and then it needs another hour or so to cool down.
Overtime, bakers have experimented with this recipe and have since added coffee, chocolate, coconut, orange, and others. This recipe is actually not my mothers recipe. My mom makes it all the time usually in individual size pans using milk and sugar. This recipe was given to me by a Mexican lady who is like family when she surprised me and made it for my birthday. What impressed me is she made it so quickly and while I was present, without me even noticing! It’s that easy and that delicious.

This creamy custard flat cake is
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 5 eggs
- 1 12 oz can evaporated milk
- 1 14 oz can La Lechera
- 3 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 350
on medium heat add sugar to pan and stir for 5 minutes (do not step away, it burns quickly)
once it turns into a caramel color pour it into a 9 inch cake pan
in a circular motion move the caramel around so it fully coats the entire pan
in a blender mix the 4 ingredients
pour the mixture using a seive (optional) into the cake pan coated in caramel
cover very well
place the cake pan into another larger pan
add boiling water to the pan so the water reaches midway to the cake pan
bake it in the water bath in the oven for 60 minutes
let it cool for 60 minutes
when its done, use a knife to make an incision around the outer edge of the custard to seperate it from the pan
put a plate directly on top of the cake pan, and flip it
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