Banana Flan

The first time I made this recipe I remember standing in the kitchen exclaiming "it worked! it really worked!" The funny thing about flan is that it feels like you've done a magic trick in the kitchen and it in my mind it's always much more complicated than it really is. This is a fun twist on the usual flan and delicious banana flan!

Banana Flan

• 1 cup cane sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 egg white
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)
• 1 cup bananas (extra ripe, the riper the better the flavor)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch sea salt
• 1 cup water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Set clean dry flan pan on countertop easily accessible to your stovetop. I recommend using a medium casserole dish but I think pie pans are also used often too. 

2. In a sauce pan over low heat cook sugar till it dissolves and becomes a liquid caramel. You will need to keep a close on the pan and stir constantly so that the sugar does not burn. At first it will just kind of clump together and then very quickly it will dissolve all at once. 

Beginning to dissolve.

Almost there!

3. As soon as the sugar has dissolved pour directly into pan, you might need to tip the pan around a little to be sure you get even sugar syrup distribution on the bottom. Set this aside to cool while you prepare the flan. 

Sugar syrup cooling in dish.

4. I used a blender because using a food processor for liquids can be too messy. Combine eggs, sweetened condensed milk, bananas, vanilla and salt. Blend until completely smooth. Add one cup water and blend till combined.

5. Place flan pan into cake pan. I used a 13x9 pan. Pour blender mixture into flan pan. Add water to surrounding pan till it reaches the midpoint of the flan pan. This is kind of like a double boiler sort of situation. You are NOT ADDING WATER to the flan, you are placing it in the surrounding pan so that when you bake the flan it will cook more gently. 

6. Set into oven. Bake for an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and 30 minutes. Toward the hour mark you will want to test the flan with a knife. If it comes out clean your flan is set. 

Bake flan.

7. Remove from oven and leave on countertop for at least 30 minutes to come to room temperature. 

8. Cover flan and move just the flan pan to the refrigerator to set. Cool in fridge for at least 2 to 3 hours. 

9. Remove cooled flan pan from fridge, slide knife around edges to ensure it has loosened from the dish. Place serving dish on top and flip over to transfer flan out onto plate. I recommend using a deep serving plate as the caramel becomes syrupy and will want to drip down along the flan and into the dish. 

10. Keep cool until serving to maintain desired texture. 

Enjoy!! xoxo - Iris