Flan - will a custard set with soymilk?

I have always wondered about this, but I've never been motivated enough to find out. Until this week. I had a few really delicious flan while we were traveling around Arizona and I wanted to try it myself, but if I make it at home I'm going to be using soymilk and I have always assumed a custard would not set-up properly if you didn't use real milk. Boy, was I wrong.


I made the recipe from Mark Bittman's "How To Cook Everything" for Flan and just substitued soymilk for the milk - without making any other modifications. The recipe said the custard should be done around 30 minutes and mine were still completely liquid so I thought for sure that my little experiment was going to result in no custard, but even in my despair I kept on cooking them. Sure enough, 15 minutes later it was a little thicker and by a full 60 minutes it seemed completely set. Technically, one is supposed to remove the custards from the oven right before they set - so maybe next time I'll try taking them out at 45 or 50 minutes. I cooled the flans and then put them in the fridge to chill. I had one for my after lunch treat and it was amazingly and surprisingly great - very smooth and silky and not tasting overcooked. Both my husband and one of my daughters seconded this opinion - the daughter claiming that she should be allowed to finish the rest of my flan because it was so yummy.

It turns out that this works because it is really the eggs that do all the work of thickening in a custard. I always thought that the chemical make-up of the milk combined with the eggs to create the thickened custard, but I was wrong. In the end it is the magic of eggs that does the trick irregardless of the type of milk: soy or dairy.

Of course, you can use regular milk or cream if you want instead of the soymilk and it will probably be even better.

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Soymilk Flan

1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
2 cups soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup sugar

1. You can use a loaf pan and make one large flan or smaller ramekins. Six 6-ounce ramekins or 4 larger ones work well for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Put water on to boil.

2. Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over low heat until sugar melts and mixture begins to darken. Stir occassionally. When the sugar mixture turns a dark golden brown - this will take about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour enough to coat the bottom into each ramekin, if using, or pour all into the bottom of the loaf pan.

3. Heat the soymilk and the vanilla in a small saucepan until it is just about to boil. Turn off burner and put aside.

4. Beat eggs, egg yolks, salt and sugar in a bowl with a whisk (or using an electric mixer) until they are a light yellow color.

5. Stirring constantly, pour the milk mixture in a thin stream into the egg mixture until they are completely combined. Pour into loaf pan or divide equall among the ramekins.

6. Put the loaf pan or the ramekins into a deep roasting dish and put it on the middle shelf in the oven. Pour boiling water into the roasting dish until the water comes about halfway up the sides of the custard dishes.

7. Bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the the custard is almost set, but the middles are still wiggly. Remove from oven and let cool. Refridgerate until you are ready to eat them.

8. To serve flan, place ramekin (or loaf pan) into hot water for 20 seconds, run a thin sharp knife around the edge of the dish and invert it onto a dessert plate.

For a finishing touch sprinkle the top with cinnamon.