Pumpkin flan

This easy pumpkin flan recipe is made with candied pumpkin cooked in brown sugar and spices, eggs, cream, milk, and orange liqueur. Yes, another recipe using dulce de zapallo or squash/pumpkin cooked until caramelized in spicy panela syrup. As you can tell I love to use dulce de zapallo as an ingredient for all my pumpkin desserts.

Receta en Español

This flan recipe was actually my husband’s unintentional idea. Several years around this same time I made a large batch of dulce de zapallo and used some to make a pumpkin tart. While I was making the pumpkin tart he asked if I was making flan, he sees eggs going into custard like mix and assumes it must be flan. My answer was “I’ll make that tomorrow”.

Of course, if he had known the amount of cinnamon that was in the candied pumpkin than he probably wouldn’t have been too excited about it. I don’t get how anyone can not like cinnamon, especially someone who is French, and on top of that, married to me. My strategy for his not liking cinnamon: ignore it, I figure that eventually he’ll have to start liking it. He still eats anything I make with cinnamon, but I want him to love cinnamon.

Back to the pumpkin flan, like most flans it is very easy to make. Yes, it would be even easier if you used store-bought pumpkin pure. Cooking the fresh pumpkin (or squash) with panela, a type of hard brown sugar, and spices until the pulp is candied, give this flan the most delicious and comforting taste that you just won’t get with the canned stuff. Plus, your house will smell amazing when you make the dulce de zapallo.

The next part of the process is to mix the candied pumpkin or squash pulp into a puree with eggs, cream, mikk, orange zest, and a dash of orange liqueur. Then bake, cool down and enjoy!

Pumpkin flan

Easy pumpkin flan recipe prepared with candied pumpkin cooked in brown sugar and spices, eggs, cream and orange liqueur.

4.84 from 18 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Latin American

Keyword: Calabaza, Custard, Dulce de zapallo, Flan, Pumpkin

Servings: 8 to 10 small individual flans

Ingredients

For the caramel:

• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup water

For the pumpkin flan:

• 1 ½ cups of dulce de zapallo or candied pumpkin pulp 400 grams – see recipe below or see Notes for a quick version using canned pumpkin purée
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup milk – regular or evaporated milk
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1 tsp vainilla
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice mix adjust to taste
• 1 tbs grand marnier or orange liqueur – optional

Instructions

For the caramel:

• Combine the sugar and the water in a saucepan and cook over medium high heat, bring to a boil and let it continue boiling until the caramel starts to turn a deep amber color. Do not stir while it is boiling, but keep an eye on it as it can burn very quickly during the last minutes. It should boil for about 8-10 minutes.
• Pour the hot caramel into lightly greased flan molds or ramekins.

For the pumpkin flan:

• Pre-heat the oven to 350 F / 175 C.
• Place all the ingredients for the pumpkin flan into a blender and mix until well combined. You can also use an electric mixer if you prefer.
• Pour the pumpkin flan mixture into the ramekins.
• Put the ramekins or small flan molds in an oven pan filled with some water – the water should cover at least ½ of the height of the ramekins.
• Bake the pumpkin flans at 350F for about 40-45 minutes, or until the flan is set.
• Let the flans cool completely, then refrigerate for a couple of hours.
• To help release the flans place the ramekins in a bowl with warm water before serving to melt the caramel and loosen the flan.
• Serve alone or accompanied by

  honey crème fraiche sauce and some slices of fresh orange.

Notes

If you only have canned pumpkin puree or want a shortcut to make this recipe without having to make the dulce de zapallo o caramelized pumpkin from scratch, you can make a quick caramelized pumpkin puree version:

• Place the contents of 1 can of pumpkin puree (a 15-16 ounce can) in a small pot and add 1 cup of brown sugar or grated panela/piloncillo, and 1-2 teaspoons of cinnamon and other ground spices (clove, all spice, nutmeg, ginger).
• Cook over low heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring often, until you have a dark sweet pumpkin mix.

Dulce de zapallo or candied squash in spiced syrup

Dulce de zapallo or calabaza is a dessert made with squash or pumpkin simmered in a syrup of panela or piloncillo (hard brown cane sugar) and spices.

4.89 from 43 votes

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Course: Dessert, Sweets

Cuisine: Ecuadorian, Latin American

Keyword: Butternut squash, Candied squash, Caramelized squash in sweet spiced syrup, Dulce de zapallo, Panela, Piloncillo, Pumpkin, Squash

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1 medium squash or small pumpkin about 2 lbs – organic if possible
• 1 lb panela or piloncillo broken into chunks – can substitute with 1.5 cups of dark brown sugar
• 5 cinnamon sticks
• 5 cloves
• 3 all spice peppers
• ~ 3 cups water

To serve:

• Fresh cheese slices can use quesillo or queso fresco or fresh mozzarella

Instructions

• Wash the squash well, slice it open and remove all the seeds and membranes.
• Cut the squash into medium sized pieces and place them in a large pot with the chunks of panela and spices.
• Add the water and bring to a boil over medium heat, boil for about 30 minutes with the lid on.
• Uncover and simmer for about 1 hour or until the syrup thickens.
• Remove from heat.
• Can be served warm or room temperature with a slice of fresh cheese. Can also be used as a filling for empanadas and tarts or pies.

Step by step preparation photos for pumpkin flan

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