There has to be as many flan recipes out there as people who cook them. So many variations!
But the one thing a lot of them have in common is the use of processed, condensed milk and excessive amounts of sugar.
With just a few wholesome ingredients and the helping hand of my beloved Instant Pot, this Instant Pot Maple Flan is a breeze to make. It sets beautifully and doesn’t develop that unsightly skin — thanks to the gentle steaming.
It’s not cloyingly sweet, and the texture is light and fluffy.
I sweeten my flan with maple syrup, which adds a lovely flavor. I don’t cook the maple syrup very long, so it doesn’t become dark brown. Also, I find that the taste is pretty much the same whether I burn the syrup or just let it thicken.
Instant Pot Maple Flan
With just a few wholesome ingredients and the helping hand of my beloved, this Instant Pot Maple Flan is a breeze to make. It sets beautifully and has a light and fluffy texture.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup maple syrup divided
- 3 organic or pastured eggs large
- 4 organic or pastured egg yolks large
- 1 1/2 cup raw and/or whole milk
- 1 1/2 cup heavy cream not ultra-pasteurized
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
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Place trivet in pressure cooker or crockpot.*
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Add 3 1/2 cups water into cooker.
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If using an electric pressure cooker, set to Saute function so water will heat up.
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With a stovetop cooker, put on burner over medium heat.
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If using a crockpot, turn on high.
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Place a 7.25-inch souffle dish inside pressure cooker on trivet.
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Cover pressure cooker or crockpot with lid to prevent evaporation.
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In a small saucepan, bring 1/2 cup maple syrup to simmer.
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Cook over medium heat until syrup starts to smell slightly burnt (8 to 10 minutes).
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Pour syrup into souffle dish. It should cover the entire bottom.
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Whisk and eggs and egg yolks with remaining 1/4 cup of maple syrup.
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Combine milk, cream, salt, and vanilla in a medium saucepan.
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Heat slightly until it just starts to steam.
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While whisking constantly, very slowly pour warm milk/cream mixture into egg mixture.
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Strain through a fine mesh strainer into souffle dish, on top of maple syrup already inside.
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Cover pressure cooker or crockpot with lid. If using a pressure cooker, leave the sealing valve open so it can vent.
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If using an electric cooker, select "Slow Cook" setting and adjust to high temperature.
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With a stovetop cooker, set over burner on medium-low heat.
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If using a crockpot, set to low.
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Let steam for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until center of custard jiggles slightly when shaken and internal temperature is 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
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If using an electric cooker or crockpot, turn off.
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If using a stovetop cooker, remove from heat.
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Remove lid.
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Transfer inner pot of pressure cooker or crockpot to a wire rack, with the souffle dish still inside, and allow to cool for 1 hour.
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Carefully lift out souffle dish.
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Cover and refrigerate until completely cold.
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To unmold, run a knife or a wooden stick around edges of the dish.
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Invert serving platter on top of the souffle dish, then turn the dish and the platter over.
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Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- *You will need either an electric pressure cooker with a slow cook function, a stovetop pressure cooker, or a crockpot.
Have you ever made Instant Pot flan before? What about flan sweetened with maple syrup… ever had that?
This post was featured in 22 Real Food Instant Pot Desserts.
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thanks for the recipe! 2 questions: With Instant pot pressure cooker, should Saute setting remain on for the entire prep time? Also, does the dish require any covering once inside the pressure cooker (wax paper/foil, etc.) to prevent excessive moisture on the surface?
Thanks again!
Tim
I made it according to the instructions, which does not specify covering, and it came out really watery. It tasted great, even though the texture was not the best. I’m going to try covering it next time to see if this solves the problem.
Am I supposed to coat the inside of soufflé pan with something to make it not stick?
Wondering the same thing as the other two questions. Plus, I only have a 6 inch soufflé dish. Will I need to make adjustments.
A question of nomenclature — originally electric pressure cookers were just that; they did pressure cooking, and if large enough, canning as well. But that was it. The generic term for the newer electric devices that do pressure cooking, slow cooking, and other functions is multi-cooker. (Often the term Instant Pot is used because that is the brand name that popularized these new appliances.) Sometimes multi-cookers are referred to as electric pressure cookers, but that isn’t accurate; a true electric pressure cooker cannot act as a slow cooker, rice cooker, or the other functions that a multi-cooker can perform. So the directions in this recipe would be more clear if the various appliances that could be used are consistently referred to as stovetop pressure cooker, multi-cooker, or slow cooker so cooks will understand what to do depending on which appliance they are using. Also, re the question about covering the flan inside the pot, I did tent the dish with parchment paper and had no problem with wateriness. It was a bit tricky to position the parchment paper without touching the flan, though. I used a star-shaped mold instead of a soufflé dish which was part of the problem. But since you flip the flan over after cooking, the divots in the other side from the parchment paper didn’t matter. Also, I boiled the water on the stove rather than in the multi-cooker because usually flan recipes tell you to add water so it is halfway up the sides of the dish. It’s too hard to gauge how much water will remain after evaporation if it’s boiled in the multi-cooker; the maple syrup and custard will take varying times to cook. Since my trivet has handles, I set the mold on the trivet on the counter, added the reduced maple syrup, then sieved the custard in when it was ready, then carefully lifted the trivet by the handles and transferred the trivet and filled mold to the multi-cooker. I had already measured the mold so I knew how deep the water should be from the top, so I carefully added the boiling water as needed using multiple pintsful of water from a 2-cup glass measure. It took about 5 cups of water to fill my multi-cooker to the proper depth, not 3 1/2 cups. (Your mileage will vary.) My multi-cooker is an 8-quart Instant Pot, and I used the slow cooker insert with its lid which has a small hole to allow steam to escape. Finally, I wanted more maple flavor in the custard so I added 1/2 tsp. maple extract. The maple flavor was still very mild so next time I will add a full tsp. I do like this flan and it really saved my bacon this time! I had to make a dessert and the oven suddenly died so no pies, no cakes. This Instant Pot recipe was terrific, thank you for posting it.