With its gleaming caramel top and delicate wobble, crème caramel is a dessert that quietly dazzles. Beneath its burnished surface lies a gently set custard – silky, smooth, and just sweet enough – elegant in its simplicity and beloved across the globe. Though rooted in French technique, variations have long flourished: in Vietnam, it’s infused with coconut and steamed in tiny tins; in Japan, purin appears everywhere from convenience stores to high-end restaurants.
If you’re wondering about the difference between crème caramel and flan, you’re not alone. They’re close cousins, but there are some key distinctions. French crème caramel is made with milk or cream and topped with caramel for a refined, softly set custard. Latin-style flan, which traces its origins to Spanish flan, typically relies on sweetened condensed milk, giving it a richer, sweeter flavour and a slightly denser texture. Then there’s French flan pâtissier – no caramel here – just a thick custard baked into a pastry shell.
Today, whether laced with saffron, tropical fruit or maraschino liqueur, crème caramel continues to evolve. These 11 recipes show how far the dessert has travelled – and just how versatile it can be.
A smart hack for the classic version – if making caramel from scratch makes you nervous, fear not – in Season 8 of The Cook Up with Adam Liaw, chef Matt Golinski shares a clever tip to prevent burning: a dash of vinegar in the pan. This is a foolproof way to start learning how to make crème caramel at home.
Credit: Jiwon Kim
A legacy of French colonial influence, this Vietnamese take on crème caramel swaps out cream for coconut milk, bringing a subtle tropical richness to its silky, set texture.
Credit: Alan Benson
A Latin-leaning twist on French crème caramel, this flan is topped with rich dulce de leche instead of caramelised sugar, giving it a deeper, toffee-like sweetness without straying from the classic custard base – a reminder that there’s no single answer to 'how do I make crème caramel?'.
Pudding à la mode rose to popularity in the postwar era in Japan, when Western-style desserts symbolised modernity and indulgence, blending the French custard with the local love of multi-component, parfait-inspired presentation –think crème caramel nestled among seasonal fruit, whipped cream and scoops of ice cream, still served at retro kissaten and glossy fruit parlours.
In a tribute to French comfort food, French chef Guillaume Brahimi creates a no-frills crème caramel – slow-baked and served with the signature sheen of bittersweet caramel. His tips for silky perfection are to avoid incorporating air while beating the eggs together, and passing the final mixture through a fine chinois before pouring the custard into the mould to bake.
Credit: Andy Baker
This bánh flan blends French culinary roots with Southeast Asian aromatics, using condensed milk, coconut cream and galangal for a custard that’s earthy, floral and full of local identity.
Coconut and galangal crème caramel (bánh flan) Credit: China Squirrel
Made the Iranian way, this crème caramel is fragrant with notes of cardamom and saffron, offering intriguing and elegant dimensions to the familiar dessert.
Saffron crème caramel. Credit: Nigel Slater's Middle East
Chef Poh Ling Yeow’s all-time favourite dessert comes with family roots and a French refinement. She grew up making it with her mum’s half-cream, half-milk recipe – until a French friend revealed that classic crème caramel uses only milk, for a lighter and even silkier custard.
Credit: China Squirrel
A sun-kissed spin on the classic, this mango crème caramel brings fruit-forward brightness with mango puree folded through the custard, while keeping the caramel just dark enough to cut the sweetness.
Mango creme caramel Credit: One World Kitchen
Melbourne-based, Croatian-born restaurateur Ino Kuvacic shares his recipe for dubrovacka rozata, a crème caramel from Dubrovnik enriched with maraschino liqueur for a subtly sweet-sour cherry note.
Chef Kenji Ito reimagines Japan’s beloved 'purin' (pudding, crème caramel) in a modern fusion, balances the lushness of purin with the delicate funk of nigori sake, served as a palate-refreshing sorbet alongside.
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