Caramel Flan (or Crème caramel) is my favorite custard dessert. A pressure cooker is one of the easiest ways to make this dessert. It’s creamy, light and the caramel is so good!
Crème caramel (or Caramel Flan) is on the top of my list of irresistible desserts. Even after a heavy meal, it’s a light enough dessert that it doesn’t feel like lead in my stomach. I love scooping up the liquid caramel with each bite of this tender custard.
I have posted quite a few pressure cooker recipes on my blog, over the last few years. I have been in-love with pressure cooking for at least fifteen years. After my last electric pressure cooker wore out, I upgraded to Instant Pot IP-DUO60 7-in-1 Multi-Functional Pressure Cooker. It’s an understatement to say that I love it. It’s small enough to earn a special spot on my limited counter space and I’m using it several times a week.
When people first buy an electric pressure cooker, one of the first things that they make are “Pressure Cooker Cheesecakes“. It makes perfect sense, since many cheese cake recipes requires for the cheesecake to be placed into a pan, with water (otherwise called a Bain-marie). Instead of baking a cheesecake for one hour, it takes only 15 minutes! Isn’t that impressive?!
Pressure cooking is the perfect solution, since it takes as little as one cup of water to steam potatoes, cook hard boiled eggs, “bake” a cheesecake…and, now, make a Crème caramel in ten minutes!
It felt good to finally master the art of making caramel by making this fantastic Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream. Actually it’s not difficult at all to make your own caramel, and it takes just a few minutes. There are a couple of things to remember, and your caramel will turn out perfect every time. First, don’t stir the sugar! Just let it melt, and swirl the pan a little bit if you need to. Last, but not least, keep a very close eye on it!
You’ll start to see the sugar melt, and to take on that amber color. Watch the caramel closely, and just as all the sugar is melted– and you see that the amber color has been reached, immediately remove it from the heat! Of course, you want to have you custard vessels ready to go, because you will immediately pour the caramel into the dish/pan and it will harden very quickly.
I made the custard, before I made the caramel. It’s super simple, really. You need whole milk, eggs, vanilla extract and sugar.
If you don’t own a pressure cooker, you can make this using a conventional oven using the directions for a Mexican Chocolate Flan that I made. You’ll need to bake the custard for 35-40 minutes.
However, with a pressure cooker, it gets faster and easier, in my honest opinion:
I used this pan and covered it with foil. I poured one cup of water into the pressure cooker pot, and added the trivet (the handled trivet comes with this pressure cooker). I was able to easily lower the flan into the pot, locked the lid on, programmed pressure cooker for ten minutes. Once the PC beeped, I did a natural pressure release (simply put, didn’t touch the pressure cooker for ten minutes).
I knew this had cooked properly, because the custard was set, but slightly jiggled. I had leftover custard, so I filled one ramekin.
I covered this one with foil, and pressure cooked it on HIGH for 6 minutes.
It jiggled, but was set. Now, the hardest part begins. Waiting. The custard needs to cool for an hour, then covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated them for at least three hours.
To serve the flan, set the ramekins (or pan) into hot water for 30 seconds to one minute. I use a paring knife around the rim of the dish (or pan) to loosen it up. Then, I set a plate on top and take a deep breath. Flip it! I could hear a gentle “whoosh” as my larger flan slipped right out.
I cannot begin to express just how much I love Flan (or Crème caramel). It’s one of my favorite desserts, because it’s light and I love the flavor of caramel.
TASTING NOTES: That lonely little Crème caramel that I made… it was mine! I enjoyed every single bite. If you don’t own a pressure cooker, I hope you seriously consider buying one. Otherwise, I have a conventional recipe on how to make flan here.
My general rule of thumb to adapting recipes from conventional cooking to pressure cooking– pressure cook for about 1/3 of the time as a conventional recipes says. There are so many resources to find pressure cooking recipes, and once you get hooked– you will wonder what took you so long. Oh, I’ve said this at least 1000 times– today’s pressure cookers do not explode! There, I said it for the 1001th time!
Crème caramel (or Caramel Flan), Pressure Cooker Style
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
FOR THE CUSTARD:
- 2 cups whole milk
- 4 whole eggs plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup sugar
FOR THE CARAMEL:
- 1 cup sugar
Instructions
MAKE THE CUSTARD:
- Mix the milk and vanilla extract.
- Using a fork or a whisk, mix 4 whole eggs plus 1 egg yolk with the sugar. Pour the milk and vanilla, milk into the egg mixture. Whisk well, and the mixture will be very watery. Set aside.
MAKE THE CARAMEL:
- In your widest saute pan (I use a saucier pan), add the sugar and turn the flame to high and wait. Do not stir–at most, pick up the pan and swish it around to make sure the sugar is evenly melted in the caramel.
- As soon as almost all of the sugar has turned to caramel turn off the heat.
- Carefully pour the caramel into the ring form pan, or into individual ramekins.
- Fill the caramelized containers, by pouring or using a soup ladle, leaving 1/2-inch space from the top. Cover the forms tightly with aluminum foil.
- Prepare the pressure cooker by adding one cup of water into the pot.
- If using a ring mold, cover it with foil and carefully lower it. My trivet has handles, so this makes it much easier. otherwise, make a foil sling.
- Place the pressure-cooker lid on and lock it in place. Set the pressure to high and for 10 minutes.
- If using ramekins, cover each one with foil and place on a trivet. Carefully lower into the pressure cooker. Lock the lid on, and set for 6 minutes on high.
- Once the pressure cooker beeps, allow a natural pressure release of 10 minutes. Allow to cool.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least four hours.
Serving the flan:
- To serve the flan, set the ramekins (or pan) into hot water for 30 seconds to one minute. I use a paring knife around the rim of the dish (or pan) to loosen it up. Then, I set a plate on top, take a deep breath, and flip it!
Creme caramel is one of my favorites and your version looks so delicious. But I still don't have a pressure cooker. I would like to get one, but I first have to clear away some other things from my jammed kitchen cabinets.
confused about your recipe on Key Ingredient. You said to set to manual for 6 min then NPR for 10 minutes. But then say " Allow the flan/creme caramel to cook for one hour. " is it a type? does cook = cool?
Tina, thank you. "cool" not COOK! I fixed my recipe card. Thank you for pointing out my typo.
Looks perfect for the dessert lovers in the family.
I looked at the recipe, and sugar is not listed as an ingredient in the flan part of the recipe. How much is used? This looks delicious!
Ooops! THank you so much for letting me know. I fixed the recipe card. 2/3 cup sugar (125grams)
I SO want an InstantPot, too – the exact one you've got your eye on! 🙂 Before I knew about it, my husband got me a Cuisinart pressure cooker. I like it, but I REALLY want to do yogurt! 😀