Simple, healthy, and traditional recipe for flan that uses fruit as the only sweetener. Legal for gut healing diets like GAPS!
I recently visited with my dear friend of many years, Kelly the Kitchen Kop when she was in Florida.
We enjoyed an amazing meal together.
Kelly made her incredible maple flan recipe as a special treat for dessert. It was soooo good, I ate two pieces!
I wanted to make this recipe for my family, but my husband is on the GAPS diet, which temporarily disallows any disaccharide sweeteners (this includes maple syrup and coconut sugar).
So, I converted Kelly’s recipe using date syrup instead, which is permitted for gut healing diets since it is derived wholly from fruit.
Notice the deep color of the custard from the dark brown date syrup. The creamy delicious flan taste is the same though!
My husband absolutely loved this special treat!
Fruit-sweetened Flan
Simple, healthy, and traditional recipe for flan that uses fruit as the only sweetener. Legal for gut healing diets like GAPS!
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 5 egg yolks
- 2 1/2 cups heavy cream NOT ultrapasteurized
- 1 3/4 cups whole date syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp sea salt finely ground
- 1/4 tsp expeller pressed coconut oil
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 325 °F/ 63 °C
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Pour 1 cup of the date syrup into a small pan and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and simmer to reduce the date syrup to two-thirds of a cup (takes about 7 minutes).
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Pour the thickened and reduced date syrup into a 9-inch round stainless steel pan lightly greased with expeller-pressed coconut oil. Set aside.
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Whisk together the remaining date syrup, eggs, yolks, cream, vanilla, and sea salt in a bowl until well blended.
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Pour the mixture into the baking pan coated with the date syrup.
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Place the baking pan inside a larger baking pan or double boiler filled with about three-quarters of an inch of hot water.
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Place the double boiler in the center of the oven and bake for 75 minutes or until the edges are set and golden brown but the center is still slightly wobbly.
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Carefully remove the double boiler from the oven and place the smaller baking pan with the flan on the counter to cool for about 45 minutes.
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Refrigerate the pan of flan uncovered for at least 4 hours to complete the set.
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Remove the pan from the refrigerator and run a butter knife along the edges of the flan to loosen.
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Place a large dessert plate over the top of the pan and carefully turn it over to remove the flan onto the plate. Slice and serve immediately.
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If some reduced date syrup remains in the baking pan, drizzle a spoonful or two over the top of each slice of flan if desired.
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Refrigerate leftovers for up to four days.
I’m Spanish I ate this growing up. We always had it just 3 ingredients (eggs, milk, sugar). I love the date syrup option. I’ll have to try that. And one step farther if anybody wants to try, the region where I’m from they always add old hard croissants or similar pastry or maybe even gluten free. I always make that for my kids.
Sarah, I love that you found a version that your Hubs could enjoy too, and others who are on GAPS!!!
Kel