This Venezuelan Flan “Quesillo” is delicious, smooth, and creamy! A melt-in-your-mouth caramel flan that is super easy to make with a few simple ingredients.
5 INGREDIENT QUESILLO VENEZOLANO
For Latinos, food is very important. I mean, it’s important to everybody, but for us, it has a special meaning. Every celebration revolves around food. My family is no exception. As I have said many times before, to me, cooking means more than just-food. To me, it means tradition, love, and customs. It also is one of my favorite ways to pass on our roots to my children.
At home we eat pancakes and arepas, burgers and cachapas, we eat apple pie and flan. That’s our way to teach our children to love their country of birth without forgetting our family roots.
WHAT IS VENEZUELAN FLAN QUESILLO?
Flan, or crème caramel, is originally a creamy Spanish custard topped with caramel. Quesillo is the Venezuelan version of this Spanish dessert. While it may seem similar, there are a few key differences. While flan uses whole eggs plus egg yolks, whole eggs are used for quesillo. In addition to that, you’ll notice that flan is a creamy custard filling, quesillo has a more spongey custard. The spongey is like the holes in cheeses, which is why it’s called quesillo (but there’s no actual cheese in this dessert!).
VENEZUELAN FLAN QUESILLO RECIPE INGREDIENTS
Amounts are included in the printable recipe below (scroll down). You’ll need:
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Sweetened Condensed Milk
- Whole milk
- Pure vanilla extract
HOW TO MAKE VENEZUELAN FLAN QUESILLO
Detailed instructions are included in the printable recipe below (scroll down).
1 – PREPARE THE OVEN
Preheat the oven to 375º F. Place oven rack in the middle.
2 – MAKE THE CARAMEL
Add the sugar in a heavy-bottomed pot or pan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly to prevent any burnt spots. If your caramel looks very lumpy and grainy, don’t worry. Just lower the heat and keep stirring until sugar dissolves and syrup turns deep amber.
Very carefully pour caramel into the flan mold. Using oven mitts as aid, immediately tilt the mold to coat sides. Set aside and let it cool down for about 10 minutes, or until the caramel is hard.
3 – MAKE THE CUSTARD
Put the rest of the ingredients into a blender and blend for 2 -3 minutes.
Pour the custard into the caramel-coated flan mold. Cover with the lid or aluminum foil.
4 – BAKE WITH A WATER BATH
To bake it we are going to use a water bath, a.k.a Bain-Marie. Fill a large roasting pan with about an inch or so of hot water (not boiling). Place the flan mold with custard in the center. Carefully transfer to the middle oven rack, and bake for 60 minutes. The flan will be ready when the center is just set (mixture will jiggle). Set aside and let it cool. Place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.
To unmold, run a knife around edges of the Venezuelan flan quesillo and invert onto a large rimmed serving platter.
QUICK RECIPE TIPS
- Change things up by adding some lemon or orange zest to the custard for this Venezuelan flan quesillo.
- Condensed milk and evaporated milk are not the same thing. Please do not substitute the two. Evaporated milk does not have the same sugar content compared to condensed milk.
- When making the caramel, the sugar might look weird as it browns and clumps together, but just keep stirring; it’ll become caramel!
- To easily get the flan onto the platter, place your platter upside down over your pan, then while holding the platter against the pan, flip it upside down.
STORING
This Venezuelan flan quesillo always gets eaten up so quickly that you might not even have leftovers to pack up! But if you do have leftovers or you’re planning on making these ahead of time for a party, here’s how to do so.
LEFTOVERS
If you’re planning for leftovers, cover and store them in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you’ve used multiple smaller ramekins, wrap them up inside the ramekin and store them in the fridge. Unmold when ready to eat.
Looking for more Venezuelan recipes?
- Venezuelan Asado Negro
- Venezuelan Pabellon Bowl [Video]
- Eggless Venezuelan Tequeños
- Easy No-Bake Venezuelan Bienmesabe
- more Venezuelan recipes…
Venezuelan Flan Quesillo
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 6 eggs
- 14 oz (1 can) Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 3/4 cup (14 oz – 432 ml) whole milk
- 1 teaspoon ( 5ml) pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375º F (190º C). Place oven rack in the middle.
Make the Caramel:
- Add the sugar in a heavy-bottomed pot or pan over medium-low heat, constantly stirring to prevent any burnt spots. If your caramel looks very lumpy and grainy, don’t worry. Just lower the heat and keep stirring until sugar dissolves and syrup turns deep amber.
- Very carefully pour caramel into the flan mold. Using oven mitts as aid, immediately tilt the mold to coat sides. Set aside and let it cool down for about 10 minutes, or until the caramel hardens.
Make the Custard:
- Add eggs, sweetened condensed milk, whole milk, and vanilla into a blender. Blend for 2 -3 minutes, or until everything is well combined.
- Pour the custard into the caramel-coated flan mold. Cover tightly with the lid or aluminum foil.
Prepare the Water Bath:
- To bake the quesillo, we are going to use a water bath, a.k.a Bain-Marie. Fill a large baking pan with about an inch or so of hot water (not boiling). The baking pan needs to be larger than the flan mold. Ideally, you want something that’s just a couple of inches larger than the flan mold.
Bake:
- Place the covered flan mold with custard in the center of the baking pan with the hot water. Carefully transfer the baking pan to the middle oven rack, and bake for 60 minutes. The flan will be ready when the center is just set (mixture will jiggle). Set aside and let it cool at room temperature. Then transfer to the refrigerator and chill for at least 4 hours before serving.
- To unmold, run a knife around edges and invert onto a large rimmed serving platter.
- Change things up by adding in some lemon or orange zest to the custard.
- Condensed milk and evaporated milk are not the same thing. Please do not substitute the two. Evaporated milk does not have the same sugar content compared to condensed milk.
- When making the caramel, the sugar might look weird as it browns and clumps together, but just keep stirring, it’ll become caramel!
- To easily get the flan onto the platter, place your platter upside down over your pan then while holding the platter against the pan, flip it upside down.
- Venezuelan Asado Negro
- Venezuelan Pabellon Bowl [Video]
- Eggless Venezuelan Tequeños
- Easy No-Bake Venezuelan Bienmesabe
- Easy Venezuelan Cocada
- more Venezuelan recipes…
Nutrition
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
-
- Kitchen Scale
-
- Flan Mold
-
- Measuring Cup Set
-
- Measuring Cups and Spoons Set
The recipe was originally posted in September 2014, post content edited to add more helpful information, no change to the recipe in April 2021.
