Creme Caramel Recipe with Condensed Milk

Name: Creme Caramel Recipe with Condensed Milk
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 320 min
Ingredients: 1.5 cups granulated sugar; 1/2 cup water; 8 eggs; 600 ml sweetened condensed milk (2x 300 ml cans); 600 ml whole milk (fill up the same condensed milk cans); 1 tsp vanilla extract

4.83 from 35 ratings

by Amina Al-Saigh on Jul 24, 2025

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This crème caramel is silky smooth, creamy, and rich with deep caramel flavor—just like the classic Middle Eastern-style version my mom made us. While it may look fancy, this easy flan recipe comes together easily using a blender and just a few simple ingredients. The key to achieving that perfect, custardy texture without any eggy taste or clumps lies in the baking method. Follow my step-by-step tips, and you’ll feel like a pro!

Creme caramel slice on a plate, with one bite taken out using a spoon. The full creme caramel on a platter in the back.

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5-STAR READER REVIEW

“I made my second crème caramel ever using your recipe and I got a ton of compliments! Not only did everyone love it, I loved it! Best recipe ever!”
—Mai

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Creme caramel is the dessert we grew up with, mainly due to my mother’s obsession.

But tell me to make custard on the stove top, and I’ll run away. The reason I love this recipe is that you don’t need to cook the custard, and it all comes together in a blender. Sign me up!

The ingredients are simpler too; rather than using milk and sugar for the custard, we just use condensed milk. I have tested this recipe countless times and it is always perfect; I don’t tend to stray from these exact ratios. I do warn you though – it is a sweet dessert, naturally. But that slight burnt caramel flavour really balances it out.

The main trick here is to bake it perfectly. It’s important to not over bake creme caramel to make sure it doesn’t taste “eggy” and it doesn’t have a non smooth texture.

sliced creme caramel on a blue rimmed dish with a serving knife on the side on a blue background

Here’s the Step by Step Method

Grab your ingredients!

Ingredient shot for creme caramel with 4 cans of condensed milk stacked on top of each other, a cream canister of sugar, an open carton of eggs, a stainless steel milk bag holder with a bag of milk and a red bottomed blender with a grey tile backsplash and cream counter top

The first thing to start on is the caramel, because it takes a bit longer than the custard. Place the sugar and water in a medium saucepan and place it on medium high heat.

In my recipe, I make a larger than usual amount of the caramel because I love having a lot of it pooling around the custard when flipped over. This means the caramel will take a bit longer to caramelize, but it’s worth the wait. It should take anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes, depending on your pan size and stove.

water and sugar in a steel saucepan on a dark coloured stovetop — Place water and sugar in the pot.

light yellow boiling water and sugar in a steel saucepan on a dark coloured stovetop — Bring it to a rapid boil.

deeper golden simmering water and sugar in a steel saucepan on a dark coloured stovetop — Keep an eye on the caramel as it boils and turns a darker shade.

deep golden simmering caramel in a steel saucepan on a dark coloured stovetop — You may swirl the pan to see the colour clearly.

TIP: If you make the caramel too light, it will be too sweet and won’t have the caramel flavor. But if you leave it to get too dark, it will taste a bit burnt. It’s important to stay nearby and make sure you remove it when it reaches the right shade.

I usually blend the custard when the caramel is bubbling, just so it is ready to go when the caramel is finished.

condensed milk pouring into a glass blender jug on a red bottom with a dark grey tiled backsplash — Add the condensed milk to the blender.

milk pouring into a glass blender jug on a red bottom with a dark grey tiled backsplash — Add the whole milk.

creme caramel mixture in glass blender with red bottom and grey tiled backsplash — Add the eggs and blend for a few seconds until combined.

blended creme caramel mixture in a glass jug with a red bottom and a dark grey tiled backsplash — Foaming at the top is fine. Let it stand until the caramel is ready.

Once the caramel is ready, while hot, pour it into your baking dish. If you’re using small ramekins, pour a bit of the caramel at the bottom of each ramekin.

When you pour it, it will make the baking dish very hot, so be careful not to touch it with your fingers. It will also harden within a few minutes of touching the pan, which is completely fine.

caramel being poured from saucepan into steel loaf tin with a dark grey tiled backsplash

custard being poured from a jug into a silver loaf pan

Next, pour the custard on top of the caramel. Then, create a water bath. Place the creme caramel pan inside a larger baking dish, then pour boiling water inside the larger dish. The water should come up to about halfway up the creme caramel dish.

Gently pick up the large dish and place it in the oven. Bake it for roughly 40 to 50 minutes. There are important baking instructions in the next section that you must review. Its best to not rely on time and instead rely on physical signs that the creme caramel is baked.

2 creme caramel's in mint coloured baking dishes being placed in an open oven

2 baked creme caramels in loaf tins in mint coloured baking dishes

How to bake Creme Caramel to perfection

The trickiest part about making creme caramel is knowing when to take it out of the oven without overbaking. A perfectly baked creme caramel will have very small minimal holes around the outside, but no holes in the centre once cut, with a perfectly smooth and creamy texture.

Don’t rely on the baking time of 45-50 minutes. After about 45 minutes of baking, you need to test it.

Do this by shaking the pan gently. If it ripples like liquid or water, it’s not ready yet. It needs to jiggle like set jelly. Close the oven door and check back in again in 5 minute intervals.

Once you think its there and it jiggles like jelly, you can also insert a knife in the middle to double check. If it comes out with clumps attached, it’s not ready. It needs to come out clean with some streaks.

Once you think it is finished, remove it from the oven and allow it to come to room temperature in the water bath for roughly 1 hour. The residual heat will continue the cooking process. Once its cooled, cover the top with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge overnight.

Here are three signs that your creme caramel is over-baked:

It will have an eggy taste. Over baking brings out the egg flavour in an unpleasant way.
It will have a curdled texture that is not smooth or creamy.
It will have a lot of visible holes all over. It’s fine to have some small holes on the top and sides, those are quite hard to avoid, but when you slice into it, the inside should be perfectly creamy with no holes visible at all.

front view of sliced creme caramel with knife beside it on a blue rimmed dish with 2 slices of creme caramel on plates on a blue background

How to Flip and Release Creme Caramel

The next day, when you’re ready to serve, start by running a butter knife all around the edges of the pan. Then, turn the water tap on to hot water and run the water on the sides and bottom of the pan for a few seconds. This helps the caramel to release.

Place a platter that’s large enough on top of the pan, then swiftly flip it over. Gently tap the bottom of the pan and slowly raise it. If the creme caramel gets stuck, just repeat the process of using the knife to run it around the edges and running water on the bottom.

It should release, and the liquid caramel will pool around the custard. Slice into pieces and serve with a few spoonfuls of caramel on top.

How to Adjust Pan Sizes

This recipe will make enough for a 9″ round pan. You may have a little bit of the custard leftover if your pan is thin like mine (which I highly recommend – you can find it here). My pan is about 5 cm thick so I had a bit leftover that I used to make 2 small ramekins with it. If your pan is thicker, you’ll be able to fit all of the custard in.

I have also baked it in a standard 9″x5″ loaf pan, and it fits perfectly. Both pans will make roughly 10 small slices. It’s best to serve small slices of creme caramel because it is decadent and sweet!

The best time to eat it is the next day. However, it will keep for about 2 days in the fridge. After that, the texture will get dense and it won’t be as pleasant.

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4.83 from 35 ratings