Gluten Free Coconut Flan Recipe

If you happen to be in  Santiago de Chile, or you´re planning to visit this city soon, Quinoa Restaurante is a place you don´t want to miss. Located in the residential neighborhood of Vitacura, Quinoa is a vegetarian restaurant with seasonal menus (please order the strawberry salad in spring) and fantastic dessert options available all year. My favorites: the coconut flan and the chocolate textures. Mind-blowing. 

The recipe I will share with you is from Cocina de Mercado´s blog, whose creator is related to the restaurant. This dessert is super easy to make, specially if you don´t have a lot of spare time.

WHAT YOU NEED: 

Serves 10

Caramel:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of water

Custard or flan:

•  6 eggs
• 8 tbs of shredded coconut (you can process the long coconut shredded strips)
• 400ml coconut milk (you can use homemade coconut milk)
• 1 tin of condensed milk
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• Decoration: sliced coconut

HOW TO DO IT:
Preheat oven to 160C/320F.

1- Coat the flan molds with caramel: In a small saucepan heat the sugar and the water. Do NOT stir. It will start to bubble and to darken. When it starts to look slightly golden, take away from the heat and pour into the small molds, making sure they are entirely coated. 

2-  In another bowl, stir all the ingredients until there are no lumps.
3- Pour the mixture into the flan molds and cover them with aluminum paper. Place them inside an oven pan with water, covering them half way through.
4-  Bake them for about 40 minutes or until they are no longer in a liquid state. Allow them to cool down outside the oven and keep refrigerated.