Vegan Strawberry Flan
This delicious strawberry flan recipe came about after a recent success with this indulging mango pudding, which essentially highlighted the amazing utility of agar, an ingredient that I didn’t use often but it’s really incredible as a vegan substitute for gelatin.
It’s ideal to have during Summer for several reasons— it’s a delicious but refreshing dessert that tastes better on a hot day, and strawberries are also a fruit that is within season during summer, so they’re most flavorful during that time.
This also means you may be able to find them at way more affordable prices than you would in any other season during the year. Anyway, let’s get it done.
🗒️ Ingredients You’ll Need
Fortunately, to make this recipe you don’t need more than five ingredients, which speaks to the difficulty of the recipe— indeed, it’s pretty easy to make!
The five ingredients you’ll need are:
- Fresh strawberries
- Sugar
- Agar
- Water
- Coconut milk.
Although it’s up to you, I use two different types of sugar in this recipe.
I use regular white sugar for the caramel because it’s easier to tell when the sugar has turned to caramel due to its light color. This allows for better control over the caramelization process and prevents you from burning or overcooking the sugar.
Then I use brown sugar to create the flan base as it adds a depth of flavor that white sugar generally lacks— providing the flan with a more complex flavor profile. Additionally, brown sugar has a slightly higher moisture content than white sugar, which helps your flan become softer and creamier, resulting in a more scrumptious bite.
👨🏻🍳 How To Make Strawberry Flan
This recipe can be divided into two parts. The first part is to make the caramel, which will be the first thing to be added to the dessert bowls. Secondly, you will be making the flan base, which is essentially the most important part since it’s where you’ll be creating the texture and bringing to life the flavor of the strawberries. No worries, it’s pretty simple!
Creating the caramel.
As I’ve mentioned previously, to create the caramel you should use refined white sugar as it gives you better control over the caramelization process.
I’d also recommend pouring warm water into dessert bowls to warm them up a little before pouring the caramel as you don’t want to risk breaking them (particularly if you’re using glass bowls) as the caramel will be too hot and you can’t really let it cool down in the pan.
To get started with the caramel, add 1/2 cup of white sugar and 1/3 cup of water to the pan and turn on the heat to medium-high.
Give it a quick stir to incorporate both ingredients, bring the mixture to a boil and lower the heat, leaving it to simmer for 10-15 minutes until a gooey, brown caramel liquid is left.
Once you have the caramel ready, you will want to immediately turn off the heat to prevent it from burning, take it off the stove (particularly if you’ve got a vitro-ceramic stove that is still hot after being turned off) and pour the caramel into the warm dessert bowls.
Swirl the bowls in a circular motion to get a bit of the caramel around the sides, which creates a really beautiful effect that it’s useful if you want to surprise any guests.
Creating the flan base.
Once you’re done with the caramel, it’s time to do the flan base.
The first step is to chop up some fresh strawberries (2 cups, to be more precise), add them to a blender, and also add 3 tablespoons of sugar. You blend everything up, and you’ll be left with a delicious strawberry pureé that you can set aside for later use.
Now, you want to grab a pan (preferably a small but deep one) and add 1 teaspoon of agar and 150 milliliters of water. Stir to mix the agar with the water. Turn on the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil.
Once you see the mixture getting really bubbly, you’ll want to turn down the stove temperature and let the mixture simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until the agar is completely dissolved.
You’ll then add the coconut milk, stir, and let it simmer for a few minutes as well. The next step is to pour the strawberry pureé into the pan.
Stir to fully incorporate both the strawberry pureé and the coconut milk, and you’ll let it simmer for an extra 5 minutes, or until the mixture develops a texture that is both creamy and shiny. Once you get to that point, turn off the heat.
Pour the flan base into the dessert bowls.
At this point, the caramel will have had time to set into the dessert bowls, so you’ll be left with pouring the flan mixture into the bowls. Once poured, let the mixture settle for an extra 15-20 minutes for its temperature to cool down.
Unfortunately, you can’t eat it immediately as the flan still needs to go in the fridge to develop its texture for at least 4 hours.
Take out the strawberry flan from the fridge and before serving it to yourself or your guests, garnish it with a few slices of strawberry. And voilá, that’s the recipe!
👌🏻 A Few Things To Consider Before Making This Recipe
Use fresh strawberries rather than frozen strawberries.
Frankly, I’ve tested this recipe with frozen strawberries and I didn’t really like the result. Not only was the “strawberry pureé” a bit more watery, but the flavor was off as well. I’d suggest using only fresh strawberries as you can better preserve the flavor of strawberries.
Don’t pour the agar into hot water.
Yes, if you want the agar to dissolve properly, you need to first dissolve it in a small amount of cold water before bringing that same water to a boil.
If you add it to hot water, it’ll clump up and it’ll be impossible to get out. Bear in mind that I’m specifically referring to powdered agar, not the thread type.
Use white sugar for the caramel.
White sugar gives you more control over the caramelization process due to its light color. You’re able to know when it’s finally turned into caramel, and you can also prevent it from getting burned or overcooked.
You can also use other types of sugar, but the white one is easier to use.
Print
Vegan Strawberry Flan
- Total Time: 4 hours and 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 people 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This strawberry flan recipe is the perfect solution for a hot summer day. If you’ve got some strawberries, coconut milk, and agar, you can prepare it in less than 30 minutes.
Ingredients
Caramel
- 1/2 cup of refined white sugar
- 1/3 cup of water
Flan Base
- 2 cups of fresh strawberries
- 3 tbsps of brown sugar
- 150 ml of water
- 1 tsp of agar powder
- 1/2 cup of coconut milk
Garnishment
- sliced strawberries (to taste)
Instructions
Create the caramel
- To create the caramel, mix 1/2 cup of refined white sugar and 1/3 cup of water in a pan. Stir to incorporate both, and turn up the heat to medium-high, bringing the mixture to a boil (till it gets really bubbly). Decrease the temperature and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes until the mixture slowly turns into caramel.
- Turn off the heat and pour the caramel into dessert bowls. Swirl the bowls to evenly spread out the caramel around the sides. It’ll look beautiful!
Create the flan base
- Place the chopped fresh strawberries and sugar in your blender and blend everything until you’re left with a strawberry pureé. Set aside for later use.
- In a pan, add the agar and water. Stir to combine both. Turn the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn down the temperature and let the mixture simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until the agar is completely dissolved.
- Add the coconut milk, stir, and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add the strawberry pureé and stir until it’s fully incorporated. Let the mixture simmer for an extra 5-10 minutes, or until it’s creamy and shiny. Turn off the heat.
Prepare the flan for cooldown
- Immediately pour the flan base into the dessert bowls and let it set for 15-20 minutes to let the temperature cool down. Then place the bowls in the fridge for at least 4 hours to let the flan develop its consistency.
Garnish the strawberry flan
- To garnish the strawberry flan, use sliced strawberries. Place them on top of the flan and serve to your guests or family!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Resting time: 4 hours
- Category: Dessert
🙏🏻 Before you go, I’ve got a favor to ask!
I’d love to get your feedback on this recipe! Feel free to leave a comment below detailing your experience— and let others know how you feel about it!
Of course, you can also ask any questions you may have about the recipe— and we’ll try to respond ASAP.
