Vietnamese Custard (Banh Flan)

Vietnamese Custard (Banh Flan) is a deliciously silky sweet treat and my go-to dessert when I am cooking for friends. It’s easy to make it the day before and have ready for dining.  My recipe is a healthier version of the traditional Vietnamese Flan.  I tweaked the recipe by eliminating (fatty) condensed milk, reducing sugar, and substituting 2% milk. (Save those calories for another splurge!)  Just 5 ingredients, this custardy treat is super easy to make and a wonderful dessert to round-out any meal.

Watch the video for instructions.

Ingredients

For the Caramel
3/4 cup sugar

For the Custard
5 medium eggs
1/4 cup sugar
3 cups reduced fat (2%) milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

For the Caramel

In a small sauce pan, heat sugar over medium heat.  Dissolve sugar, stirring every minute until sauce becomes a golden brown color, approximately 5 minutes.

Spoon the caramel into cups making sure to cover just the bottoms of the cups with even amount of caramel.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the Custard

In a medium bowl, lightly beat eggs.  Combine milk, sugar and vanilla in large bowl and whisk until sugar is dissolved.  Add in the eggs and whisk together.  Do not over whisk eggs as this will cause the custard to have air bubbles.

Strain the mixture.  Next ladle the mixture into the custard cups filling them about 2/3 full.  Place custard cups into baking dish.  Fill baking dish with warm water, about halfway up the sides of the custard cups.

Bake for 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted into flan comes out clean and when lightly shaken the middle jiggles just slightly.

Remove from oven and allow cups to cool in the water bath, approximately 2 hours.  Remove cups, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

To serve run a knife around the edge of the cup and invert onto a plate.  Garnish with mint or fruit.

Yields: 8 custard cups

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