Creating the perfect Hacienda Petac Flan Recipe at Home

Flan is one of those desserts that I never really thought much about. The ones I’d had in the past were kind of gelatinous and not really hitting my sweet tooth the way I craved. All of that changed when I had the Hacienda Petac Flan while visiting Merida, Mexico.

I was lucky enough to take a cooking class with the Mayan women who ran the kitchen at Hacienda Petac. These ladies are beyond fantastic when it comes to make their favorite native dishes. I basically felt like I was sitting at a table at my aunt’s house and she was making all of my favorites. That is if one of my aunt had been Mexican and could cook.

I’d already learned how to make so much from these ladies already:

Now it was time to make flan. I wasn’t excited, but hey, these gals hadn’t steered me wrong yet. I dove right in.

Luckily I already knew how to caramelize sugar, so that was fairly easy to pick up. Next came a whole lot of eggs, condensed milk, evaporated milk, sugar and vanilla. All good things, but I still wasn’t convinced I’d like this one better than the others I’d tried. The batter went into the flan pan (yes, it has it’s own special pan), and we moved onto the next thing we would make (Panochos!)

Later that day, after a nice swim and relaxing nap by the pool, my friends and I sat down for dinner. We inhaled anything that was put in front of us, and then the flan arrived. Well, I’d helped to make it. I wasn’t about to say no.

It was the best flan I’ve ever had!

Apparently I’ve been eating flan all wrong. This wasn’t gelatinous at all. It was the perfect smooth texture, giving way to bursts of custard cake and caramel. Heaven! Needless to say, I needed to make sure I had the recipe perfect before I left home.

Now I get to share it with you!
Hacienda Petac Best Flan recipe
Flan Ingredients:

• 1/4 c sugar (for caramel)
• 7 eggs
• 1 can of evaporated milk
• 1/4 to 1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Caramel:
Caramelize the sugar, being careful not to burn it.
Coat the bottom and sides of the pan

Custard:

Combine eggs, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla in a blender
Pour in the milk egg mixture into a flan pan
Cover tightly with foil

If you have a steam or water bath on high heat for one hour or until somewhat solid. A little jiggling is ok.

Use individual ramekins placed in a deep roasting pan with about an inch of boiling water around the ramekins. Baked at 350 for about 45 minutes.