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06/05/2026
Flan and caramel custard look almost identical, sitting on their plates in all their glossy glory, bathed in a rich caramel sauce. But Mexican flan and the French crème caramel, both of which go by the name 'caramel custard recipe’, in everyday conversation, are not the same dessert. One is denser, richer, and more intensely sweet, while the other is a lighter, more delicate French preparation, silky and barely set. And this Cinco de Mayo, both deserve a place at your table, even if only one of them actually belongs to Mexico.
Cinco de Mayo commemorates one of the most improbable military victories in modern history. On May 5, 1862, a Mexican army of roughly 4,500 soldiers, many of them indigenous Zapotec and mestizo fighters, poorly equipped and significantly outnumbered, defeated 6,000 French imperial troops, considered the finest military force at that time, at the Battle of Puebla.
Food is one of the most powerful acts of cultural resistance, and nowhere is this truer than in Mexico. The dessert course is no exception, and flan is the best representative of that. It is a quivering caramel-crowned custard that ends Mexican meals from Sunday family lunches to quinceañeras and carries with it a history almost as complex as the battle it now helps celebrate. It is often confused with the French creme caramel, but it is different.
Flan’s concept originated in Ancient Rome, where eggs and milk were cooked and topped with something sweet like honey. Eventually, this spread to Spain, where the idea of cooking the mixture in a caramelised sugar mould became popular. The word itself comes from the Old High German ‘flado’, a kind of flat cake, which passed into Old French as ‘flaon’ and then into the Spanish and English that brought it to the Americas.
When flan first arrived in Mexico, ovens were still rare, and it was often cooked on the stovetop. Even though this method is considered time-consuming, it greatly influenced the development of a distinct Mexican variety of flan. The ingredient that makes flan stand out is the use of vanilla flavouring, the vanilla spice being native to Mexico.
Sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk, both industrially produced, became widely available in Mexico in the early 20th century and changed the recipe to what the modern flan recipe is today. These ingredients are what give the flan its distinct, dense, opaque and flavourful taste, which distinguishes it from its Spanish and Cuban cousins.
Crème caramel is a sweet custard dessert, bathed in a sweet and sticky layer of thin caramel sauce. The French dessert uses milk, eggs, and sugar, with vanilla extract or vanilla beans providing the custard's signature vanilla flavour. To make crème caramel, the concoction is baked in individual ramekins placed into a deep baking dish filled halfway with boiling water (bain-marie), which offers just the right amount of heat for delicate custards such as this one.
In France, crème caramel is a type of crème renversée, literally meaning ‘inverted custard’, because it is served upside down, with the caramel cascading down the sides of the just-set custard. Whilst crème caramel has a smooth, creamy texture, it is almost gelatine-like, even though no gelatine is used. It is much lighter when made with full-cream milk rather than cream.
Spanish flan typically uses egg yolks, resulting in a richer, custard-like texture. Mexican flan uses whole eggs, giving it a slightly firmer texture due to the inclusion of egg whites. However, the Mexican flan should still be creamy and sliceable. Flan often uses condensed and evaporated milk, resulting in a denser, sweeter custard. Mexican flan tends to be sweeter and denser than its French counterpart.
Ingredients
For the caramel
White granulated sugar
Water (optional; omit for a drier caramel method)
For the flan custard
Sweetened condensed milk
Evaporated milk
Room-temperature eggs
Mexican vanilla extract (or split and scraped vanilla bean)
Pinch of salt
Optional: for Flan Napolitano
Softened full-fat cream cheese
The caramel sauce is first made with sugar and a little bit of water into a thick, sticky sauce. It’s poured into a flanera and spread around before it can set.
The oven is preheated to 165°C, and all the custard ingredients are mixed in a blender. If making flan napolitano, cream cheese is added and blended.
The custard mixture is strained into a caramel-lined pan and covered tightly with foil. A water bath is prepared in which the liquid-filled vessel is placed and baked.
The flan is baked for about an hour, and you know it’s done when there is a slight jiggle in the centre when you gently shake the pan.
The flan is taken off the water bath, cooled, and then refrigerated before being unmoulded and served with the caramel cascading over the top and pooling around the base.
Ingredients
For the caramel:
White granulated sugar
Water
For the custard:
Whole full-fat milk
Eggs and egg yolks
Granulated sugar
Pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean
A water bath is prepared for around six 6-ounce ramekins.
Then sugar and water are added to a saucepan to make the caramel sauce, and then it is poured into the ramekins.
The milk is warmed until steaming and then is added to the egg-egg yolk-sugar mixture while whisking until pale. Add the vanilla, mix and then strain for a smoother pudding.
The custard is poured into the caramel-filled ramekins and, with the water bath, goes into a preheated oven at 150°C. The ramekins are loosely covered with foil and baked for about 35 to 40 minutes. The custards should have a slight wobble in the centre.
The custards are cooled to room temperature and refrigerated, then unmoulded and served in a dish with the caramel pooled around it.
The Mexican flan has spawned a remarkable family of regional variations across Latin America. Here are the most notable ones:
Flan Napolitano: The cream cheese flan of Mexico is made with cream cheese, which is blended into the custard mix. You get a denser, richer texture that has the feel of a cheesecake.
Flan de Cajeta: This variation replaces the usual caramel with cajeta, a Mexican milk caramel made with goat's milk, with the sauce a mix of tangy and sweet.
Flan de Coco: Coconut milk replaces part of the dairy products, producing a fragrant custard particularly popular in coastal Mexican states and the Caribbean.
Chocolate Flan: Cocoa powder is added to the custard mix when heating the milk, followed by the usual flan recipe.
Leche Flan (Philippines): Leche flan cooks on the stovetop rather than in the oven, and it's firmer and eggier since it contains egg yolks instead of whole eggs. It is steamed in an oval aluminium tin called a llanera.
Quesillo (Venezuela): Made with condensed milk, eggs, and caramelised sugar, quesillo is sold in small, tied plastic bags and eaten by snipping off a corner and squeezing it to extract the dessert.
Pudim de Leite (Brazil): A similarly rich condensed milk custard, typically larger and more caramelised than its Mexican cousin.
Flan and custard share a creamy egg-and-milk base, with centuries of history behind them, both with tinges of Europe in them. But flan is baked with caramel and unmoulded into a glossy, set dessert, and uniquely Mexican that has a telltale look and taste, which makes it a festive favourite for important days like Cinco de Mayo.
Traditional flan uses eggs, milk, and sugar, while Mexican flan often adds condensed milk or cream cheese, making it richer, denser, and sweeter.
