While spending a day in Old San Juan during our last cruise, we visited the famous Barrachina Restaurant. Not only is it the birthplace of the pina colada, but they also make a host of other Puerto Rican treats including tostones, sweet plantains, croquets, and coconut flan.
Coconut is one of my favorite tropical fruits. So, dreaming of that creamy coconut flan, I texted my mom to see if she’d share her recipe as she used to make it when I was a kid. To my surprise, she texted me back a photo of some ready-made store bought flan. Hilarious. Well, I guess that’s a time saver, but I was hoping for something homemade.
I adapted this recipe below from one that’s included on the back of a label for sweetened condensed milk. Their recipe was just for regular caramel flan, so in order to replicate the coconut flavor I experienced in Puerto Rico, I swapped the water for coconut milk, left out the vanilla, and added shredded coconut. It turned out beautifully!
You can make flan in individual custard cups, or if you want to make a large one like I have pictured, look for a stainless steel flan pan at your local grocer or kitchen supply store. They’re just the right size and shape and typically come with a lid that makes it easy to store in the refrigerator when cooling. You can also use a round cake pan.
For the holidays, spice it up a bit and make a pumpkin flan instead! There are so many delicious variations. Hope you enjoy!
Coconut Flan
Coconut Flan
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 (13.5 oz) can coconut milk
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut (for garnish)
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees
- Add sugar to a medium saucepan and cook over low-medium heat, stirring continuously to keep it from burning and sticking to the pan. When it’s done (about 10 minutes), it will be melted and caramel-colored.
- Carefully pour melted sugar into flan pan.
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat eggs, coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, and salt until well blended.
- Pour into flan pan, and then set flan pan into larger baking pan. Fill larger pan with 1 inch of hot tap water.
- Bake uncovered for 45-55 minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
- While flan is baking, add shredded coconut to a dry skillet and cook on medium heat until the edges are toasted and starting to brown. Set aside as garnish.
- Carefully remove from the oven and let it cool.
- Chill for a few hours or overnight.
- When ready to serve, run a knife around the edge of the flan to loosen it from the sides. Invert the pan onto a serving plate. Garnish with toasted coconut and serve.
Cannot wait to try this, looks delicious. Can you tell me size of the pan pls? Thanks.
Hey! It’s a standard flan mold. About 1.5 quarts, and measuring mine, it is a little over 8 inches in width. Our local grocer carries the molds, but if you can’t find one, they’re also on Amazon. Enjoy!
Hi
Can you add shredded coconut to the egg mixture to give more of a coconut flavor? Or would it ruin the texture?
I’ve never tried it that way, only used shredded coconut as garnish. It does have a pretty intense coconut flavor with the coconut milk. Make sure to use the canned coconut milk for better coconut flavor, not the coconut milk in the plant-based part of the dairy section. That is usually watered down.