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My recipe for homemade coconut flan, a Latin style coconut custard dessert. This coconut flan is made with grated coconut, coconut milk, eggs, milk, and sugar, and has an orange caramel.
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This is my recipe for homemade coconut flan, a Latin style coconut custard dessert. Flan is one of those easy desserts that everyone (or almost everyone) loves. This flan de coco or coconut flan has an orange caramel, as well as grated orange zest in it, which gives it a great citrusy taste that goes great with the coconut.
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My husband loves flans, and when I met him he made one of the most basic flans ever by blending eggs, sugar and milk. I was shocked to see that he baked it in a baking pan without using a water bath. I was so sure there was no way that it was going to work, but it did. Even though I found his super quick guy-flan very egg-ey it was still edible. I was somewhat impressed that he knew how make it – even though I didn’t consider it a real flan since it lacked caramel, and yes he ended up eating most of it.
Personally, I have to have caramel with my flan – it’s the best part! I love a classic traditional flan, but also really enjoy making different variations, from this coconut flan to pineapple flan, passion fruit flan, candied pumpkin flan, and more. It’s very easy to use your favorite fruit or a seasonal fruit to give your flan a delicious touch.
I love coconuts and have had some of best coconut flans made with fresh coconut in coastal towns in Ecuador. I tried making this recipe with fresh coconut in the US and was disappointed that the quality of fresh coconuts was so bad. I found that my favorite Asian grocery store carries very good frozen grated coconut, which turned out to be better than buying and grating a fresh coconut.
Of course, in Ecuador, or any country with access to fresh local coconuts, I would recommend using those. You can make this coconut flan using small individual ramekins or you can also make it in a large pan for all to share. I served it with some fresh berries and some toasted coconut flakes.
Coconut flan with orange caramel {Flan de coco}
Recipe for homemade coconut flan with orange caramel. This coconut flan is made with grated coconut, coconut milk, eggs, milk, and sugar, and has an orange caramel.
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Course: Dessert, Sweets
Cuisine: Ecuadorian, Latin, South American
Keyword: Coconut, Coconut custard, Coconut flan, Coconut flan with orange caramel, Flan, Flan de coco, Queso de coco, Valentine’s Day
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour hour
Refrigeration time: 4 hours hours
Total Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes
Servings: 8 to 10 portions
Ingredients
For the orange caramel:
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup of water
- ¼ cup of freshly squeezed orange juice
For the coconut flan:
- 6 eggs
- 1 14 ounce can of coconut milk
- 1 12 ounce can of evaporated milk
- 1 cup grated coconut
- ¾ cup sugar adjust to taste
- 1 tbs grated orange zest
- 3 tbs corn starch
- Pinch of salt
To garnish:
- Fresh berries and toasted coconut
Instructions
For the orange caramel:
Combine water, orange juice and 1 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium high heat to make caramel.
Bring to a boil and cook until the caramel starts to turn a light brown honey color, be careful as it can burn very quickly. It takes about 7-9 minutes to get to the point where you start to see the caramelization start, don’t stir the caramel mix as it cooks, just let it boil until it starts to darken. Because this caramel sauce has orange, it won’t get as dark as the regular caramel.
Quickly and carefully pour the caramel into ramekins or flan molds.
For the coconut flan:
Pre-heat oven to 350
Using an electric mixer mix eggs, coconut milk, grated coconut, orange zest, sugar, evaporated milk, corn starch and pinch of salt together until all the ingredients are well blended
Pour the flan mixture into the ramekins
Place the ramekins in a baking pan with water, the water should fill up to about ½ of the height of the ramekins or molds,
Bake for 40-50 minutes – or until the flan has set. The exact time will vary depending on the size of the molds and each person's oven.
Cool down and refrigerate the coconut flan for 2-4 hours before serving.
To remove from the molds, bring the flans to room temperature. Use a knife to help loosen the edges, and place it upside down on the serving plate. Garnish with berries and/or toasted coconut.
Step by step preparation photos for coconut flan
