Cuban Coffee Flan

The rich and bold flavor of Cuban coffee meets flan's silky vanilla custard and caramel. Cuban coffee is my blood type and flan is one of my favorite desserts, so combining the two seemed like the natural thing to do! The result is a delicious café con leche flavored Cuban dessert. 

Why you'll love it

• This dessert is a coffee lover's dream.
• Perfect dessert for special occasions.
• Easy to make.
• Great for potlucks and get togethers.

What is flan?

Flan, or creme caramel, is a creamy custard dessert topped with caramel. This delicious dessert originated from Europe and thanks to the process of colonization, flan is also popular all throughout the Caribbean, Central America, South America and even the Philippines.

It's a simple custard made with milk, sugar and eggs and baked using a marie bath to ensure a cream consistency. Each region has its own way of making it and all result in a  rich this is my idea of dessert heaven.

What is Cuban coffee?

Cafe cubano also known as cafecito, is made up primarily of arabica coffee beans and robusta beans. This combination of beans is what gives the drink it's bold finish, full-bodied flavor and strong taste. The coffee is typically brewed in a moka pot and once brewed is combined with white sugar for a sweet yet bold flavor. 

Equipment needed for this flan Cubano 

For this recipe, you'll need a flanera also known as a flan pan. 

How to make sure your flan has no air bubbles

While your cafe con leche flan bakes, check on it every 30 minutes or so to make sure the water in your water bath doesn't boil or completely evaporate.

If you see the water is evaporating or you see bubbles in your water, add 1-2 cups warm water to the bain-marie. A boiling water bath will result in air bubbles/ air pockets in your flan. No one likes bubbles in their flan

Ingredients needed for this Cuban flan

• Granulated sugar
• Water
• Evaporated milk
• Vanilla extract
• Brewed Cuban coffee
• Eggs
• Egg yolks
• Salt
• White Sugar
• Condensed milk

Instructions to make this coffee flan recipe

making the caramel

• Put the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Shake the pan first to half dissolve the sugar in the water. Then, over a medium-high heat, leave the caramelized sugar to form without stirring. Swirl the pan around a bit and wait until the golden caramel is medium to rich amber color, takes about 10-12 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on it because it will burn very quickly.
• Pour the amber caramel sauce into your flanera or large ramekin. Swirl the flanera carefully to make sure the entire base of it is well coated with the caramel coating. Set aside to cool so that the caramel sets.

Making the Cuban coffee

For this recipe, you'll need one cup of brewed Cuban coffee. Once you've brewed your coffee, add to it one tablespoon of sugar. For a full how-to on how to make this coffee, check out this tutorial.

Making the custard

• In a large bowl combine the whole eggs and egg yolks. Mix vigorously until foamy and a light yellow color.
• Add to the eggs the evaporated milk and whisk to combine. 
• Whisk into the egg mixture the condensed milk, vanilla, salt and sugar.
• Slowly add the Cuban coffee into the custard mixture while whisking. 

• Place your flanera or large flan ramekin inside a 9x13 pan.
• Prepare to pour your flan mixture into the flanera. While pouring it into the ramekin, have the flan mixture go through a fine-mesh strainer to ensure any egg or coffee bits don't make their way into your flan.
• Place the top on your flanera and pour in warm-hot water around the ramekin so that it comes to about half of the way up to create a bain-marie water bath.
• Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until set around the edges, but still has a little bit of jiggle in the center. Remove from the oven carefully and allow to cool slightly on the counter. When cool, transfer to the refrigerator and chill for at least 3 hours.
• To remove the custard from the flan mold, run a sharp thin knife along the sides of the pan.
• Flip the custard out of the ramekin and onto the serving platter. If your custard is being stubborn, simply flip it back over and run your knife along the edges again, then place the dish on top and try flipping again.

Variations

Want to try a dulce de leche flan? Try this recipe. 

Want to try a pumpkin flan recipe? check out this recipe

Don't own a flanera? Opt instead for a 7-8 inch ramekin. When baking, cover the ramekin you're using with tented aluminum foil.

Storage

This flan must be kept refrigerated in an airtight container. It will be good for up to 3 days.

I do not recommend freezing this Cuban flan recipe.

Check out these other Cuban recipes