Silky custard meets spice-kissed coffee in these creamy coffee flans. These caramel-topped coffee custards are made with fresh milk and cream, crushed coffee beans, brown sugar, and cinnamon for a balanced dessert that tastes like a cinnamon caramel macchiato. Made with simple ingredients in about 20 minutes of active time.
If you're a fan of custard recipes, you're going to love these cinnamon coffee flans that I adapted from Sam Seneviratne's The New Sugar & Spice.
Before becoming a cookbook author, Sam was a food editor at Martha Stewart's Everyday Food as well as Good Housekeeping and Fine Cooking, so her recipes are on point. I got to work with her when I styled food for the New York Times. I fell in love with this easy flan recipe and wanted to share it here on TBG.
These silky custards are made with simple ingredients in little active time, but be sure to make them a day before you plan to serve them. The caramel liquifies as the flans sit in the fridge making these an ideal do-ahead dessert.
Ingredients
- Milk and heavy cream form the base of the custards. For dairy-free, try using canned full-fat coconut milk in place of both.
- Granulated sugar makes the caramel, and dark brown or muscovado sugar sweetens the custards, adding rich molasses notes.
- Crushed coffee beans and ground cinnamon flavor the custard.
- Eggs and egg yolk set the flans.
- Salt sharpens the flavors.
Make-Ahead
Flans and other baked custards may seem daunting, but they are actually quite simple to make, ideal as a do-ahead dessert since they need to rest in the fridge for several hours or, preferably, 1-2 days to soften the caramel to a syrup.
When you're ready to serve, all you need to do is turn them out onto a plate and watch people swoon. The only tricky parts are caramelizing the sugar, getting the sloshy custards from the counter and into the oven, and knowing how to tell when the custards are finished baking.
As I like to say, if you've got it, flan-t it.
Bojon appétit! For more Bojon Gourmet in your life, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or Pinterest, purchase my award-winning gluten-free baking cookbook Alternative Baker, or subscribe to receive new posts via email. And if you make this coffee flan recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment and rating below, and tag your Instagram snaps @The_Bojon_Gourmet and #bojongourmet.
Creamy Coffee Flans with Cinnamon
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
Caramel
- ¼ cup water (60 ml)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 g)
Custards
- 1 ¾ cups whole milk (415 ml)
- ¼ cup heavy cream (60 ml)
- ¼ cup coffee beans, crushed or coarsely ground (20 g)
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar or muscovado sugar (70 g)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
Instructions
Prepare things
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325ºF.
- Have ready 4 (8-ounce) or 5 (6-ounce) oven-proof ramekins or canning jars and a 9” square baking pan (or other baking vessel large enough to hold your ramekins). Have your ramekins warm when you add the caramel to discourage cracking; you can do this by placing them on top of the hot oven.
Make the caramel
- Place the water in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan.
- Place the sugar in the center of the pot, taking care to keep the sugar crystals away from the sides of the pot. Use your fingers to moisten the sugar.
- Place the pot over medium heat, cover the pot, and bring to a simmer; the steam will help the sugar dissolve and not crystallize. Remove the lid and continue simmering the sugar mixture until it turns a deep amber, gently tilting the pot to caramelize it evenly, and using a pastry brush dipped in water to wash down any wayward sugar crystals that creep up the sides of the pan.
- Immediately divide the hot caramel among the warm ramekins, and place the ramekins in the baking pan.
Make the custard
- In the same saucepan (no need to wash it), combine the milk, cream, crushed coffee beans, cinnamon and salt. Place over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until hot and steamy. Remove from the heat, cover, and let steep 10-15 minutes.
- Bring a kettle of water to a boil.
- When the mixture has steeped, stir in the muscovado sugar. Place the eggs and egg yolk in a medium bowl, whisk to combine, and gradually whisk in the hot milk mixture.
- Strain the custard through a very fine mesh strainer and into a large measuring pitcher, pressing on the solids to extract all the good stuff.
- Divide the custard mixture among the ramekins.
- Cover the pan with a sheet of aluminum foil and pierce with several holes to allow steam to escape. Pull back a corner of the foil and fill the pan with enough boiling water to reach halfway up the ramekins. Re-cover with the foil.
Bake
- Very carefully, transfer the pan to the oven. Bake the flans until they wiggle like jell-o when you give the pan a shuffle, 28-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the flans cool slightly in the water, 30 minutes, then remove the flans from the pan and let cool to room temperature, 1 hour. Chill the flans at least 4 hours and preferably overnight, and up to 3 days.
- When ready to serve, use a thin knife or offset spatula to loosen the flans from the edges of the ramekins. Place a plate atop a ramekin, invert, and, grasping the ramekin and plate in both hands, give the flan a few good downward shakes to release it from the ramekin. Carefully remove the ramekin and behold your flan, coated in a nap of liquid caramel gold. Repeat with the remaining flans, and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
Flans always seem like such a special dessert. This version sounds wonderful!
Dolphia Nandi says
Alanna, whenever you post something I always check! To be frank, I have to check. They are so beautiful and tempting. After I tried and blogged your creme brule, now I have to make the flan. :) You see what you do to me?
Marisa Bergamasco says
My dear,
It is always this lucky cat tasting ALL your beautiful recipes. I wish I can be him!!!
Just a few words to wish you very very very Happy Holidays and to thank you for all the amazing recipes and pictures you posted during this year. Thank you indeed!
Fondly, your blogger friend from Buenos Aires. When are you coming to visit us in Argentina?
Hugs,
Marisa
Amanda says
What great flavors you have here! Flan is one of the first things I learned how to make since my mom and I are both obsessed with Spain and Spanish cuisine. She showed me how to make a bain marie and make the perfect, custardy flan I had in Spain. I really like the idea of a twist on a classic. The twist here of coffee, molasses and cinnamon seems almost intuitive, except that it's not which is what makes this recipe genius! Happy Holidays. Can't wait to give this a try. All the best!
Claire says
This is a real draw to get the book, which has already been on my radar. But I'm put off by not knowing whether the book contains metric measurements. Could you tell me please whether it does, or if you added those yourself here? Thanks.
Gaby Dalkin says
flan has always been intimidating to me but this is a recipe I have to try! I love how different it is from the traditional recipe
Joshua says
Very nice pictures! Love them so so much.
http://www.sobellanursery.com
Sara Krohn says
(these flans look amazing!) and, I've been looking at your quince recipes and wondered what to do with some I had. I peeled them and cut bits off of them (they are small) and put them in a bowl (1:1) with sugar. (like making first step of a shrub, or simple syrup) Letting it sit in the fridge and stirring until all the sugar dissolves (1 week or less- guessing). It's not as LOUD as sour cherry or rhubarb syrup. Yet it might be great in a flan. I was thinking you'd be able to figure out the best seasonings to go with this pairing! ha. anyway, fun to think about. Quince: so quizzical.
Alanna says
Aw, that sounds like such a fun project! What is the flavor like? I've only ever worked with cooked quince so I'm not sure what I'd pair it with...
Sara Krohn says
The flavor is like a very sharp apple. These were quinces from a yard in MA, so not sure the variety of the quince. If I had to pick between pineapple or 'apple, pear, spice, and citrus,' I'd say the latter. It was such an amazing smell, when fresh, that I was trying to find the best way to bring out the amazing flavor. Maybe roasting next time. trying to stay away from too much sugar. Or, in combination with the protein (in the flan) seemed like a good alternative. Thx.