25 Mar Easy Peruvian Flan dessert: Crema Volteada
My husband’s favourite dessert and I have to learn it from my mom. The Crema Volteada recipe is a classic among Peruvian desserts. History says that this dessert was born in colonial times, that’s why you can find it in almost all Latin American countries.
You can find it in the street vendors that sell other Peruvian classics like suspiro de limeña, turrón de doña pepa, mazamorra morada, arroz con leche, frejol colado, etc.
What I love about this recipe is the creamy texture when you try one spoon of it, and the little flavour of lime you’ve got from the lime peel you add to the recipe. Some people use lime juice, but I prefer to use the lime zest. Is stronger and doesn’t add any liquid. This is my Peruvian version of flan:
Ingredients:
- evaporated milk
- condensed milk
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- lime zest
For the caramel:
- sugar
- water
First, we need to make caramel sauce in the microwave. You will pour the water and sugar into a glass container. You will cook for 5-8 minutes until it turns into caramel. Pour the hot caramel into the tube mould, and be careful to use gloves or a towel to handle the mould because it will turn very hot. Let it cool down while you prepare the flan.
If you want you can do the caramel the traditional way, you just pour the sugar over a heavy skillet over medium heat and let the sugar caramelise moving the caramel to prevent burning.
In a large bowl pour the condensed milk and the evaporated milk (the trick is to measure the evaporated milk with the condensed milk cans, I will not put a measure for that because every country will have condensed milk in different sizes between 285-350ml) The idea is to pour the same amount of condensed milk and evaporated milk. Crack the eggs into the bowl and mix it slowly to break the egg yolks and incorporate them into the mix while adding the lemon zest and vanilla extract. Pour the mixture into the caramelized ring mould.
Put the mould over a tray with water to bake it under a bain de Marie for 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cover the flan with aluminium foil to prevent caramelizing on top.
You can serve the flan just with the caramel sauce. I like this original version, but you can serve it with a spoon of ice cream, dulce de leche or a dollop of heavy cream.
Frequently Asked Questions:
The main ingredients are milk, eggs and sugar. Because flan is a type of custard with a firm texture.
it is possible to make flan without a water bath, but it is not recommended because it will alter the texture.
You can check it with a toothpick or with a thin knife and chef if it is runny or not. Another way to check is to check if the edges are firm but the centre is still jiggly.
Yes, you can but you have to caramelise each compartment and be sure you have a large pan to put water under that tin.
Yes, you can use orange and the result is amazing too.
Easy Peruvian Flan dessert: Crema Volteada
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 60 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Peruvian
Description
This delicious dessert is a people pleaser because is smooth and has the right amount of sweetness to be a perfect end to a meal. Don’t hesitate to use it for special occasions. The good thing is that is an easy dessert recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 cans of condensed milk
- 2 cans of evaporated milk
- 8 eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons of lime zest or lemon zest
For the caramel:
- 1 1/2 cups of sugar
- 6 tablespoons of sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- In a heatproof glass container ( I use a 2 1/2 cups glass jug) pour the water and sugar for the caramel. Put in a microwave a cook it for 5 to 8 minutes. As soon as you reach the 5 minutes mark, add 1 minute at a time and check until the caramel becomes golden. Pour the caramel into the tube mould. Be aware to use gloves or something to handle the mould because it will turn hot.
- In a large bowl mix together the condensed milk, Evaporated milk (use the condensed milk to measure the evaporated milk because normally the cans are bigger so you will like to have the same amount), vanilla extract and lemon zest. Mix it slowly to break the eggs but do not add much air and bubbles to the mixture.
- Pour the milk mixture into the tube mould. Cover the mould with aluminium foil and put the mould over a big and deep pan with water, we are going to cook the flan in a water bath so it cooks evenly and you achieve that creamy texture.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean, if you don’t want to pinch it check the border is set and the centre is a little jiggly.
- Let it cool at room temperature and refrigerate overnight for perfect result otherwise serve it when is completely cool.
- When is cool down put the mould over a serving flat plate and let the caramel drizzle for a couple of minutes before removing the mould.
- I’ll hope you enjoy this classic Peruvian dessert.
Notes
Make sure to measure the evaporated milk with the cans of condensed milk. If you put the whole evaporated milk it will turn a little thinner mixture instead of a creamier and denser texture.
Keywords: Peruvian Flan dessert, Crema Volteada peruana
Hi! I’m Valeria (aka Val) the photographer and recipe developer behind Canguro Criollo. My passion for food began when I was little at my home when everything will revolve around food and now I discover this new creative outlet of food photography. I wish you can follow my journey discovering unique ways of preparing Peruvian food abroad and some other family-friendly foods.
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