If you’re the type who loves to have variations when it comes to common and famous dishes or desserts, then you just might love this–the Banana Leche Flan.
This is a good twist from the usual leche flan and it is definitely a good treat which you can make as special gifts for your loved ones or you can make this for special occasions.
Read the recipe article and learn how to make this now, and see some tips–as well as some trivia about this famous yummy custard dessert.
What is Banana Leche Flan?
The Leche Flan is a famous custard that is made out of simple ingredients. It is composed of egg yolks, condensed milk, and evaporated milk. The one that makes it special is the luscious caramelized sugar that sits and overflows on top of the custard like a syrup.
In this recipe, we put additional flavor for the leche flan by adding a special ingredient, which are ripe bananas.
It is said that the leche flan’s origin was during the times of the Roman Empire. They were one of the first civilizations to domesticate chicken, and the production of eggs also grew as a part of that. With that, they invented many different types of egg-based dishes.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Banana
We will be using ripe bananas for this recipe and the best banana to use are the local lakatan variety. If this is not available in your area, you can use the cavendish variety.
Milk
We will be using both canned condensed milk and evaporated milk for this dish. You may opt to use the cheaper version of this called condensed creamer (condensada) and evaporated creamer (evaporada).
Aside from these, we will also be using other baking pantry ingredients like eggs, sugar, cinnamon powder, salt, calamansi, and vanilla extract. If you are filling up your pantry, here’s a handy shopping guide:
Equipment You’ll Need
- Steamer Pot- Leche flan is cooked via steaming, so with this banana leche flan recipe. You can use a steamer or steamer pot that can hold about 3 molds or cook by batch if you have a smaller one. Most rice cookers also have steaming pots with them.
In need of kitchen tools and equipment? Read this before you buy:
How to Make Banana Leche Flan
It is common to think that making the leche flan is hard, especially with bananas, but it is a pretty straightforward and easy task. You might even make a successful leche flan even if you’re just a beginner. Making a delicious dessert by yourself at home is indeed a rewarding feat.
First thing you need to do is to cook the sugar in the llaneras, or leche flan molds. For a single recipe, it is common that we need three llaneras (leche flan mold) for this.
Next is to make the mixture of the ingredients that we are going to pour into the molds. Then the last step to do is to steam it. There are other methods which involve baking the leche flan, but steaming it is the more common procedure.
When beating the eggs and when mixing the milk into it, it is important to just do it carefully and slowly, because the goal is to have a consistent mixture of all the ingredients without forming any bubble on it.
Methods to Caramelize Sugar for Banana Leche Flan
- When making the caramelized sugar, in this recipe, we are going to cook all of the sugar in a large thick-bottomed pan. Swirl the pan regularly to avoid the sugar from crystallizing. Remember to transfer it quickly to a llanera (leche flan mold) because it can be hard quite easily.
- Another way you can do it is to already place them in each individual llanera and caramelize the sugar from there by setting it into the stove, just distribute the sugar evenly depending on how many you want to make. Use tongs to rotate the llanera regularly to avoid them from crystallizing.
- An interesting and uncommon method is to microwave the sugar, instead of cooking it on the stove. Pour all the sugar and mix it with a small amount of water and set the microwave to high. Wait until the sugar turns into liquid like a syrup, and then quickly transfer it to the llaneras.
How to Serve Banana Leche Flan
Like the regular leche flan, banana leche flan is served as a dessert. You may opt to have it chilled or at room temperature.
Other Dessert Recipes
For a quick reference about this recipe, see the recipe table below:
Banana Leche Flan Recipe
Equipment
- Steamer
Ingredients
- 2 pcs ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
- 10 pcs egg yolks
- 1 can condensed milk
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 6 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp banana extract, (optional)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp cinnamon powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp calamansi zest
Instructions
- In a thick-bottomed pan, add-in the granulated sugar. Cook in low to medium heat until the sugar dissolves and caramelizes (turned into liquid). Swirl the pan often to cook the sugar evenly. (See more ways of caramelizing sugar above)
- Quickly transfer the caramel evenly into leche flan molds (llanera). Set aside. You'll need about 3 pcs of llanera.
- In a bowl, add-in the egg yolks. Beat the eggs using a fork or a whisk. Do it slowly to avoid forming bubbles.
- Pour-in the condensed milk, evaporated milk, banana extract, vanilla extract, and calamansi zest. Then add-in the mashed bananas. Mix slowly until well-incorporated. Remove leftover zest afterwards.
- Pour-in the mixture evenly into the leche flan molds. Cover each leche flan mold with aluminum foil.
- Transfer and the molds into the steamer. Steam for 30 to 40 minutes.
- Let it cool down then chill in the refrigerator afterwards.
- Invert the leche flan molds into a serving plate to transfer the flan. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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