Cassava Flan Recipe – Pudding and custard dishes are one of the many popular choices of dessert in Filipino cuisine and leche flan is one of the most iconic. What is leche flan? Leche flan is a well-liked dessert in the Philippines, resembling the Spanish flan de leche but with condensed milk and extra egg yolks. It is typically steamed in an oval-shaped tin mold called llanera over an open flame or stove top, but it can also be baked.
There are many variations you can try with this dish and this Cassava Flan Recipe is one of them.
What is Cassava
Not familiar with cassava? Cassava is a root vegetable that is commonly used for both food and medicinal purposes. The root and leaves are also consumed as part of regular diets. When cooked, it has a delicate flavor profile that is characterized by earthy, nutty, and slightly sweet notes, with a hint of bitterness.
Due to its mild taste, it is recommended to pair cassava with strong-flavored ingredients when cooking. There are many dishes in Filipino cuisine that make use of cassava. A classic dish that features the root vegetable is cassava cake.
Circling back to the cassava variation, it is basically the custard dish topped with crisp cassava and a caramel sauce. It’s not overly difficult to make and you can use this recipe to test things out:
Cassava Flan
Ingredients
- 2 cups cassava grated (frozen ready-made cassava in a pack, but fresh cassava from grating and squeezing some juice is optional)
- 1/2 of 1 can coconut milk about 3/4 cup
- 1/2 of 1 can condensed milk about 3/4 cup
- 1 large egg
- 7 tbsp & 1/2 sugar 2 & 1/2 tbsp each llanera mold
Instructions
- First, let’s start with the caramel. Spoon 2 1/2 tbsp sugar in a flan mold or lyanera (you’ll need three). Then, caramelize the sugar over low heat until it turns into a light golden brown color. Give it a swirl using a thong to make sure the caramel is spread evenly on the flat side of the mold. Once done, remove it from heat and cool it down completely.
- In a large bowl, mix cassava, coconut milk, condensed milk, and egg until everything is well combined. Pour the mixture into the molds with caramel and divide it equally among the three molds.
- Now it’s time to steam the cassava flan! Heat water in a steamer over medium heat and steam the flans for 45 minutes to an hour, or until they’re set. You can use a toothpick to check if the flan is cooked by inserting it into the center of the flan; if it comes out clean, it’s done. Be sure to cover the lid with a cloth to avoid water drips.
- Once done, remove the flans from heat and let them cool down completely. To unmold, run a knife around the edges of the cassava flan, place a plate on top of the mold, and invert it. Give the bottom of the mold a few taps to release the flan, then remove the mold.
- You might notice some dark caramel on top of the flan, but don’t worry – you can smooth it out by scraping it with a knife or spatula. This step is optional, but it can make your flan look even more appetizing!
- Slice and serve your cassava flan
Notes
What Else to Know About a Cassava Flan
As stated, this dish is just one variation. Leche flan is a customary dessert for celebrations and is often incorporated into pastries like the leche flan cake, a chiffon or sponge cake with a layer of leche flan on top. It can also be used to make steamed cupcakes called puto mamón or mixed with puto to create puto flan. Other variations of leche flan desserts include Ube Leche Flan, Graham de Leche, and Leche Puto. You can also explore other custard and pudding desserts such as Fruity Maja Blanca. Or other cassava desserts like Cassava Suman.
