- Hi, this is Amanda.
Happy almost Cinco de Mayo.
on this episode of EATKINDLY With Me
We are making a staple
for my household growing up.
My mom's flan recipe.
and you guessed it,
making it vegan friendly.
So let's get into it.
So contrary to popular belief,
Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico's independence day.
Cinco de Mayo commemorates
the victory of Mexico over the French
at the battle of Puebla
which took place on 5th May, 1862.
This battle didn't win the whole war
against the French,
but it really boosted morale when needed most
and became a symbolic victory
to the Mexican government.
And what makes this battle so special
is that the French outnumbered Mexicans three to one,
were way better equipped,
and were considered
one of the most powerful armies at the time.
Yet Mexico still came out victorious.
So although Cinco de Mayo has become
a relatively minor event in Mexico today,
it is widely celebrated here in the US
by highlighting Mexican American culture.
Some important things I think
are great to remember while celebrating
is just to acknowledge the history
behind the holiday
and to maybe support authentic Mexican restaurants
and businesses.
So get yourself that plate of tacos,
listen to Mexican music,
drink that margarita.
Just maybe pass on wearing a sombrero
or fake mustache
and busting out those maracas.
Flan is easily
one of the most iconic popular desserts in Mexico.
What's really beautiful about it
is that you can find it anywhere.
From the old ranches in rural Mexico
to the upscale restaurants in major cities.
So veganizing my mom's recipe
definitely proved to be more difficult
than I expected.
And that's mainly because
flan is mostly eggs and dairy.
So in my mom's recipe,
she uses two different types of milk,
evaporated and condensed.
We are going to be using sweetened oat milk.
This will help
add a lot of that creaminess
to our flan.
And we're also going to be adding
a bit of coconut milk.
And this will ensure more firmness.
We are going to be using corn starch.
This will really help thicken
our custard base.
And then we're also going to be using
agar agar powder.
Now this is a vegan gelatin substitute.
And by using this,
it'll ensure that our flan
actually sets properly.
All right,
so first we're gonna start off with the caramel.
This is probably the easiest thing to make
because it has one ingredient
and that is sugar.
First, I'm gonna start off
by adding half a cup to,
I would say a sauce pan,
I think this is what this is called,
half a cup in here.
Get a spoon
and get out all of those clumps
before you start cooking it down
because then, I don't know,
the sugar will cook unevenly.
All right, now I'm gonna go ahead
and turn this on.
(bright upbeat music)
All right, since this is almost done
as you can tell by the smoke,
I'm going to get my ramekins ready.
So immediately pour into your ramekins
because this stuff hardens very quickly.
(upbeat music)
All right, now that we're done making the sugar
for the ramekins,
now it's time to make the custard.
And this is also super easy to make.
But what we're gonna do
is just add all the ingredients in the pan,
start the heat,
whisk it up
and it'll be ready in a few minutes.
So first we're gonna go ahead
and add our oat milk.
So we're gonna add one and a half cups
of sweetened oat milk.
And then we're going to be adding
three quarter cup of full fat coconut milk.
Sometimes they come really separated.
So you can just throw it
in a blender or food processor
to really blend it together.
Honestly, it's a little clumpy.
I'm just gonna blend it for safe measure.
So again, we're gonna be adding
three quarter cup.
Next, we're going to be adding
three tablespoons of Agave.
You could add maple syrup,
but I personally think Agave
is a little bit sweeter
and it really just makes it
taste like a dessert.
Then we are going to be adding
two tablespoons of corn starch.
Again, this will help
thicken our mixture a ton.
Let's go ahead and add our vanilla.
You could add any vanilla extract that you like.
But I'm going to be using this Molina Mexican vanilla.
And two teaspoons may seem like a lot,
but I swear this flan needs it.
It gives it a beautiful flavor.
And then our secret ingredient,
we are going to be adding three quarter teaspoon
of agar powder.
So I'm just gonna go ahead
and start the heat.
Well, since I'm doing this
on an induction cup top,
I'm gonna keep it pretty low
because this heats up so quickly.
But on a regular stove,
I would cook it at medium high heat.
Once it starts thickening,
lower that to medium level.
So I'm just gonna
immediately whisk everything together.
I would say,
keep on mixing this
because it can burn quickly
if you let it sit at the bottom.
Now that it looks well incorporated,
I'm gonna let it heat up a little bit.
You'll notice some bubbles
will start to come through.
So after a few more minutes,
there's a lot of bubbles coming through.
So we're just gonna let this cook
a little bit longer.
Once it starts boiling,
you're gonna let it boil for two minutes
to let the agar agar actually come into effect.
Okay, so now that it's boiling,
I'm gonna lower the heat a bit
and I'm just gonna let it do its thing.
I'm gonna let it boil for two minutes.
Set that timer.
And then every once in a while,
I am going to whisk it around
just so it doesn't burn on the bottom.
It has been two minutes
so I'm just gonna stir this again
just to make sure it's not clumpy at all.
All right, now that it's done cooking,
I'm gonna go ahead and cover this
for 15 minutes
to let it cool down.
All right, you guys.
So it's been 15 minutes.
So I'm just gonna go ahead
and take off this lid.
And then I immediately like to whisk it
just to make sure there's no more clumps in it.
Pour these thin.
(upbeat music)
This is Literally so perfect.
So now I'm just gonna place this in the fridge
for three to four hours.
I'm gonna go ahead and pop these in right now.
Okay, everyone.
It has been three hours.
The flan that I just made
is all in the fridge.
Let's go grab her.
Ta-da.
What a cutie.
Look at her.
So something that I did notice
is that if you try to remove
the flan from the ramekin right away,
the sugar that we put on the bottom
is still hard and it stays down there.
Normally with flan,
since it goes in the oven,
the sugar cooks down again.
And then when you put it in the fridge,
it eventually turns to a liquid.
But since we're not baking this flan,
we just had it set in the fridge,
it helps a ton
if you place this in hot water
for just a few minutes
and then you take it out of the ramekin.
So I'm just gonna go ahead
and heat some water in the kettle.
And then we can go ahead
and get this out of the ramekin.
(upbeat music)
So I think this should be enough.
So we're just gonna leave this in here
for about three to four minutes
just so the sugar melts a little bit.
Okay, so it's been about four minutes.
So I'm just gonna carefully remove this
because this water is very hot.
And then I am going to
go around the flan with a butter knife.
I can definitely still feel the sugar,
but as long as some of it is melted,
that's all that matters.
All right.
So I'm gonna put this plate on top,
kind of lift this ramekin.
And then very quickly,
we're going to flip.
Yay.
Wow, that looks so beautiful.
And here we have it, you guys.
Vegan flan.
This is so exciting
because when I first went vegan
like five years ago,
I did not ever think
I can make something like this.
So let's dig in.
Okay.
Look at that.
Okay, let's go in.
Oh, that's so good.
It's super, super creamy.
If someone gave me this
at a Mexican restaurant,
I would not think it was vegan at all.
It tastes so authentic.
It's crazy.
It literally tastes exactly
like the one my mom makes.
And I couldn't be any more excited.
Well, this is Amanda for LIVEKINDLY.
Thank you so much for watching.
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Have you ever made flan?
What Mexican dishes are you preparing
for Cinco de Mayo?
Let me know in the comments below.
Thank you for watching.
And I'll see you again next time.
Bye, you guys.