Quesillo is a Venezuelan caramel flan made in a stovetop water bath with eggs, milk, condensed milk, sugar, and vanilla extract. This traditional Venezuelan dessert is also known as crème caramel in other parts of the world.
This family recipe is from my Venezuelan cousin, Samira. She made me this traditional recipe during a visit this summer, and it blew my socks off! Nothing gets better than good food and good company. Love you, sweet Samira!
Stovetop Quesillo
This five-ingredient flan dessert is made on the stovetop. I don't know what I love more: the creamy texture or the taste. This Venezuelan dessert cuts like butter, tastes like heaven, and uses ingredients you probably already have on hand.
Ingredient Notes
How To Make Quesillo
Boil the water and sugar together on high for about 5 to 6 minutes until the caramel turns medium gold. Monitor at all times because the caramel burns quickly!
Quickly pour the caramelised sugar into a 9" cake pan, swirling the caramel until all surfaces are coated. Use oven mitts (not shown); the caramel coating is hot! Set aside.
Add the eggs, sugar, milk, condensed milk, and vanilla extract to a blender. Blend on low (this reduces the amount of air bubbles). Pour the milk mixture into the caramel-coated cake pan (or flan pan). Tap the mixture on the counter to remove the air bubbles.
Cover the cake pan with aluminium foil. Press the edges tightly. Alternatively, use a flan pan.
Place the cake pan in a larger pot (or pan). Boil water in a kettle (or pot) and pour the boiling water 75% up the sides of the cake pan. Cover the large diameter pot. Boil for about an hour. Every 20 minutes, replenish the boiled-off water. Heat water with a kettle and replenish it so the water bath doesn't run dry.
The flan may still be a little jiggly. When a knife is inserted and comes out clean, it's finished.
Refrigerate the cake pan for a minimum of 4 hours. Remove the foil. Place a flat plate on top. Flip the quesillo flan quickly, similar to how you flip maqlouba.
Cut into the quesillo as you would butter.
Tips and Tricks
- The hardest part of this recipe (in my opinion) is the caramel sauce. Firstly, the caramel sauce burns quickly, so you must always monitor it. Secondly, when the caramel cools, it hardens. Once you remove the caramel from the stove, time is ticking! Swirl the caramel as fast as possible to coat the cake pan (bottom and sides). You may need mitts because the caramel (and cake pan) will be hot. Tip: Heat the cake pan in the oven so it's hot when swirling the caramel. That will give you a little extra time to coat the pan.
- Cleaning the caramel pan: Pour water into the caramel saucepan and let it soak. Don't try to scrub the pan. The caramel will dissolve and be easy to clean after about an hour.
- If there isn't enough caramel to coat the sides of the cake pan, it's not the end of the world. You may need to run a clean knife along the edges to loosen the creme caramel from the cake pan before you flip it. The bottom of the cake pan must be completely coated with caramel.
- Use a large-diameter pot that has a lid for the water bath. Ideally, you need about an inch on all sides, so a pot that's 2" larger in diameter than the cake pan.
- As the water bath boils, the water boils off. Refill with hot water every 20 minutes so the water bath doesn't dry. The cooking time may vary, so checking the flan every 20 minutes is a good idea.
📋 Recipe
Stovetop Caramel Flan (Quesillo)
Ingredients
Caramel Sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup white sugar
Quesillo Flan
- 8 whole eggs
- 28 ounces canned condensed milk
- 28 ounces whole milk use the condensed milk cans to measure it
- ⅛ cup white sugar
- 2 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
Caramel Sauce
- In a saucepan, add the white sugar and water. Bring to a boil without stirring. Watch it carefully. Once it turns medium gold, pour it directly into a cake pan and swirl it around to coat the pan. Act quickly before it hardens! One tip to help with this step is to pre-heat the cake pan. This gives you a little more time to swirl the caramel around the pan.
Quesillo Flan
- Add the eggs, white sugar, condensed milk, whole milk, and vanilla extract in a blender. Pulse on high until combined.
- Pour the liquid mixture into the caramel lined cake pan. Tightly wrap aluminum foil on top of the cake pan, pressing the edges firmly.
- Place the cake pan into a larger diameter pot. Boil some water in a kettle or separate pot. Pour the boiling water until the water reaches 75% up the side of the cake pan. Cover the large diameter pot. Boil for about an hour. Every 20 minutes replenish the boiled off water. Heat water with a kettle and replenish so the water bath doesn't run dry. For the oven method see note 5.
- Remove the cake pan from the hot water and let it refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours. Once the flan is cold, remove the foil. Place a large flat surface on top, and flip the flan 180 degrees. The flan should easily flip onto the surface. If the flan is not flipping, allow it to cool in the fridge for a little bit longer.
Equipment
Notes
- There are two methods to make this flan recipe: oven or stovetop. I prefer the oven because the flan comes out smoother. You can use a larger diameter pot or pan if baking in the oven.
- There are flan pans that are quite helpful when making this recipe. They are not absolutely necessary, though, if you don't have any on hand.
- The caramel hardens quickly. Heat the cake pan in the oven before swirling the caramel to give yourself more time. The caramel should coat the entire pan. This ensures that the flan won't stick when you flip it over.
- Variations: Add some salt to make this a salted caramel flan. Traditional flan uses cow's milk. If you'd like a dairy-free substitute, use coconut milk.
- Oven method (creme caramel): Place the foil-covered cake pan (or flan pan) in a water bath with boiled water up to 50% of the edge of the pan. Bake at 350 ℉ (175 ℃) for 75 minutes. Add boiling water to refill the water bath about halfway through the bake.
- Store this quesillo Venezuelan flan recipe in the fridge for up to five days. I do not recommend freezing it.
Janelle says
Oh my, this looks ah-mah-zing!!!
Would it make a difference if a non-stick pan was used to make the caramel? I am worried I might mess it up.
Lily says
That is a great question- you can use a nonstick pan if you prefer. The best tip for cleanup of the caramel is to let the pot soak with water. Eventually the caramel will dissolve into the water for easy cleanup if you just give it a little bit of time (maybe like an hour soaking)!