Thanksgiving being just around the corner, I am finally beginning to seriously plan out the menu. For me it’s double work because I have to plan for AIP alternatives for myself. For main course, it’s not much an issue since I pretty much try to cook everything paleo and /AIP. But when it comes to desserts, it is hard. I try to make refined sugar free treats for the family but not necessarily gluten or grain free. Anyways for thanksgiving, the kids always want Apple pie and Pumpkin Pie. So that was it then. Although I could have made an AIP crust for myself and kept the filling the same, I was tempted to try making something new. A recipe post I had seen on Pinterest kept popping up in my dreams. LOL. Yes I am weird like that 🙂 Well the image was really drool worthy – a pumpkin flan with caramel sauce on top! So that was it – I had to make this pumpkin flan for myself! With the caramel sauce of course.
So I thought about using coconut sugar to make the caramel. And it would have to be gelatin instead of the eggs in a traditional flan. Not using eggs actually made it a bit easier since it eliminated the extra step of baking the flan. I just followed my instincts and made the caramel and the filling for the flan (I decided to still call it flan since I wasn’t sure what to call it 🙂 ). And then I waited with bated breath for the reveal!
Ta da! The flan popped out beautifully from the ramekins with the caramel sauce topping it perfectly and with extra sauce drizzling round the sides. A picture perfect dessert. Turned out just like I had dreamed about. Isn’t it wonderful when your dreams come true! Happy Thanksgiving folks. This is my Thanksgiving present to y’all! Enjoy! Sharing this yummy dessert at the Paleo/AIP Recipe Roundtable where there are all kinds of wonderful thanksgiving recipes being shared.
- 3 tbsp coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- ¼ c water
- 2 tbsp grass fed gelatin
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 cups pumpkin puree (I used homemade)
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice (use ground ginger for AIP)
- Keep 4 ramekins ready on a tray. In a medium sauce pan, sprinkle the coconut sugar so that it covers the entire bottom. Place on stove and heat on low medium heat (burner 5-6). Sprinkle the 2 tbsp water over it. DO NOT STIR. Let the sugar start melting. After about 2 mins, the sugar would have melted and you will begin to see bubbles. Heat for 1 more minute and then turn heat off. Immediately pour this caramel sauce into each of the 4 ramekins (about 1 tbsp in each). The caramel will start to thicken as soon as it's taken off from heat. Even if its thick its ok just add it to the bottom of the ramekin even if you are not able to spread it well. Keep aside.
- In a small bowl add the ¼ cup water and sprinkle the gelatin over the water to let it bloom. Keep aside.
- In a different sauce pan, heat the coconut milk, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin spice (or ginger powder for AIP). When hot, add the bloomed gelatin mixture to this pot and stir and cook on low until there are no lumps. If you feel that there may still be tiny lumps, then just transfer the whole thing to a blender and blend for 30 secs until well blended. (Be very careful blending hot liquids using a towel to cover the top)
- Pour the blended mixture into each of the 4 ramekins. Place the tray with the ramekins in the refrigerator and let it set for at least 3-4 hours.
- Before serving the flan, take a large bowl and fill it ⅓ rd with hot water and then place the ramekin inside this bowl (make sure the water level is not too high to go inside the ramekin) for 3-4 mins. Then take the ramekin out of this water bowl. Use a butter knife to carefully loosen the edges of the flan and place a serving plate on top of the ramekin and quickly invert the plate so that the ramekin is on top. The flan should easily come out with caramel sauce on top!
Making caramel sauce 
Pouring caramel sauce into ramekins
Pouring filling over the sauce.
how long will this stay good in the refrigerator ?
It should stay for about 4-5 days without any issues!
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I’m really excited to try this recipe..and I’m not vegan or even vegetarian… but this recipe is marked as vegan..and, well..that should be corrected since use of grass-fed beef gelatin definitely makes it not vegan
Hi there! thanks for your comment and for pointing the discrepancy out. The title of the post does not state vegan but the recipe title somehow had it maybe because it carried over from some other recipe. thanks again and hope you can try the recipe!
I love this recipe! I’ve made it a handful of times now, varying the amount of spice and loving it every time. It’s not too sweet yet hits all the right dessert notes for me and my family. Thanks for this!
Wow I am so glad you loved it! That’s terrific. Yes I also like the fact that it’s not too sweet! thanks for letting me know! -Indu