No-Bake Flan

Hello friends! Today’s recipe is more than special! It’s a No-Bake Flan, topped with caramel! So easy to make, so delicious! You will impress your friends and family with this dessert, and you’ll also be impressed yourself at how easy and incredible this recipe is!

As you know (or maybe not, but now you will), I am Brazilian, and Flan is very very popular in Brazil. We are flan specialists.

I grew up eating flan, and it was one of my favorite desserts as a kid, and to this day, still is!

And Brazilians make flan in a No-Bake Flan version also, and searching the internet, I couldn’t find a recipe in english for No-Bake Flan, the brazilian style, using gelatin, condensed milk, and table cream.

Which brings us to today’s recipe! I present to you this No-Bake Flan, brazilian style!

It takes about 20 minutes to put this together. Most of the time will be hands off, first waiting for the caramel to harden, and then waiting for the flan to set in the fridge! Total waiting time will be about 7 hours.

This is the best flan recipe I’ve ever made!

Let’s get to the details on how to make this No-Bake Flan.

How to make Flan without oven

Start with a bundt pan. I used a 12-cups bundt pan. You can also use a 10-cups for this recipe! If using a smaller pan, half the recipe!

First picture: Start by melting the sugar in a small saucepan. Keep stirring to ensure the sugar will melt evenly.

Second picture: Sugar will start to melt. Keep stirring as the sugar becomes a dark caramel.

Third picture: As soon as the sugar has melted entirely, and you see no more little lumps of sugar in the pan, add the water.

BE CAREFUL when adding the water! It will splash hot caramel everywhere. Be mindful of your hands! The bubbles will quickly subside, and then you can start stirring the mixture again.

When you add the water, some of the sugar will crystallize. So, keep stirring the caramel over the heat until the sugar re-melts, which can take a couple of minutes.

Once the caramel is smooth and free of lumps, pour it on the bottom of the ungreased bundt pan.

If your caramel still has a couple of lumps and you’ve been stirring it for minutes and the sugar isn’t re-melting fully, use a strainer to filter out the big lumps of sugar as you add the caramel to the bundt pan.

Place the bundt pan in the fridge, or freezer, so the caramel will harden up. This can take from 30-45 minutes in the fridge, and 15 minutes in the freezer.

The next step will be to hydrate the gelatin in some cold milk. And meanwhile, heat the remaining milk in a small saucepan, until before it bubbles up.

Once gelatin is hydrated and milk is hot, pour gelatin in the hot milk, and whisk until completely dissolved.

Then pour all ingredients in the blender!

PS. You don’t even need a blender for this! I made another No-Bake Flan just by whisking the ingredients right after I shot these pictures, and it came out fabulous too! So feel free to just whisk all ingredients together!

1. Add condensed milk (Here I am using Magnolia Brand, which is a sub brand of my favorite condensed milk Eagle Brand®)
2. Add table cream. Table cream can easily be found in the latin food aisle. It comes in a can, not refrigerated. If, however, you can’t find table cream, feel free to use heavy cream, but you’ll have to reduce the amount. Check the recipe below for the amounts.
3. Add the gelatin dissolved in the hot milk to the blender.
4. Add vanilla extract.

You can also add some turmeric, or yellow food coloring to give the flan the characteristic yellow color! I’ve made using both. The turmeric won’t alter the taste of the flan, but the yellow food coloring provided the best color in my opinion.

The No-Bake Flan in these pictures was made with the yellow food coloring.

After you’ve mixed all ingredients for the flan batter, and after the caramel has hardened in the bundt pan, you can pour the no-bake flan batter in the pan.

Make sure the flan isn’t hot or warm, or it might melt the caramel and incorporate it in the batter. If the flan batter is warm from the hot milk, make sure to let it cool down a few minutes.

After pouring the flan batter on the pan, over the hardened caramel, let it chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.

The next day, remove it from the fridge, and use a knife to slowly loosen the flan from the sides of the pan. Slow your way in with the knife, until you reach the bottom of the pan, and all around the internal and external edges.

Give the flan pan a little wiggle, and if the flan jiggles around and moves in the pan, means it’s ready to be flipped onto the plate.

Do you love this No-Bake Flan recipe? I also have other Flan recipes, like I told you, it’s one of my favorite desserts:

• Pumpkin Flan
• Chocolate Flan
• Flan Cake
• Flan Cupcakes

Make this No-Bake Flan, it’s such an easy dessert for a special occasion. Your friends and family will be truly impressed and delighted!

I hope you enjoyed today’s recipe. If you make this, tag me on instagram!

No-Bake Flan

Camila Hurst

This No-Bake Flan is super easy to make and only requires 6 ingredients! It’s an impressive dessert that can be made ahead, and is sure to please all of your friends and family!

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 0 minutes mins

Resting Time 7 hours hrs

Total Time 7 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Latin

Servings 15 people

Calories 350 kcal

Ingredients

  

Caramel

• 1 cup sugar 200 grams, 7 oz
• 1/2 cup water 118 ml

No-Bake Flan

• 3 cups milk 709 ml, divided
• 28 grams gelatin 1 oz, about 3 tablespoons
• 450 ml table cream about 2 cups*
• 2-14 oz. cans condensed milk total 28 oz, 792 grams
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions

 

Caramel

• Place sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat.
• Keep stirring the sugar to help it melt evenly.
• Once all sugar has melted and it has a deep amber color, add the water.
• Be careful with this step, as the hot caramel will bubble up vigorously once you add the water.
• Once the water has been added, some of the sugar will harden up and crystallize. Simply continue to stir over medium heat, for a few more minutes, until the sugar re-melts completely.
• When the caramel is smooth, and all the sugar has melted, pour it on the bottom of an un-greased large bundt pan.**
• Place the bundt pan on a flat surface in the fridge, or freezer, until the caramel hardens up, this can take from 30-45 minutes in the fridge and 15 minutes in the freezer. It’s very important that the caramel is hardened before you pour the flan in the pan.

No-Bake Flan

• Pour 2/3 cup of milk in a small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over the milk. Let it sit for 5 minutes to bloom.
• Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 1/3 cups of milk in a small saucepan, over medium heat.
• Let the milk come to an almost boil, but don’t let it actually boil.
• Once you see the first bubbles emerge, turn the heat off.
• Pour gelatin and milk in the pan with the hot milk. Whisk until the gelatin has melted completely and incorporated into the milk.
• In a bowl, mix table cream (or heavy cream), with condensed milk, and vanilla. Add hot milk/gelatin mixture to the bowl.
• Add food coloring, or turmeric for coloring*** if using any. Whisk until incorporated.
• Let flan mixture cool down slightly, for about 10 minutes.
• Pour it over the hardened caramel.
• Place pan in the fridge for 6 hours or overnight.
• On the next day, remove it from the fridge, and use a knife to run around the edges of the flan, and in the middle too. Be careful when doing this, so you don’t cut through the flan. Slowly start to run the knife around the edges, until you reach the bottom of the flan. It’s important to make sure the whole flan lose from the sides of the pan. If one section is still stuck to the pan, but the rest is not, the flan might break when you flip it onto the plate.
• Keep slowly running the knife around the edges of the pan, and jiggle the pan every so often, and when you see that the flan is loose in there, it’s time to flip it onto the plate.

Storage

• The flan will store well for 4-5 days in the fridge.

Notes

*Table Cream: 450 ml will be 1.9 cups, so just slightly less than 2 cups. If you can’t find Table Cream, substitute with heavy cream, but use 1 1/2 cup instead (354 ml). Table Cream should be easily found in the latin food aisle at the store.

**Bundt pan: I used a 12-cups bundt pan, a 10-cups bundt pan will also work.

***Coloring: To give the flan that characteristic yellow tone, you can add a couple of drops of yellow food coloring to the batter, or from 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder, if you want to. This amount of turmeric won’t alter the taste of the flan.

Keyword caramel, flan, no-bake