Kecap manis(pronounced keh-chahp mah-nee), is a sweet Indonesian soy sauce, made by boiling brown sugar with soy sauce, resulting in an ingredient that basically tastes like molasses. Typically it is used in nasi goreng(Indo fried rice), but based on the sweetness levels, it totally can be used in desserts. I was fortunate enough to be gifted a bottle of it by my friends Nadine and Kalei, as part of a secret ingredient cookie swap we were doing! Basically the rules were we wrote down ingredients, shuffled them in a hat, and drew them out at random. The potential ingredients included almond flour(I wrote that one down), miso, lavender, and kecap manis, but it was hilariously fitting that I ended up with probably the least-known ingredient of the four. But through this experience, that was how I got introduced to an incredibly versatile and delicious ingredient, and with that, created these flan cookies! I admittedly went back and forth on what to do with the kecap manis when I initially got assigned it. I thought about embracing the Southeast Asian aspects of it, and pair it with coconut and pandan. I thought about just whipping it into a madeleine batter. I thought about making dulce de leche with it and making alfajores even! But then I realized that I wanted to do something more unique and technical. And so I thought back to the very first dessert I learned how to bake, which was purin or flan.

Leche flan is straightforward in terms of ingredients, being made with sugar, milk, eggs, and vanilla. It is made from two components, being a caramel, and the custard. However, there is literally nowhere to hide if you mess it up. The caramel needs to be taken to the right temperature, or else it will either be too cloyingly sweet or acridly bitter. The custard has to be baked low and slow, and must be fully cooled to set it, otherwise you could risk undercooking it and making sweet egg drop soup, or overcooking it and making sweet scrambled eggs. For consistency sake, I used these silicone molds when I tested my recipe. You can also bake the custards in a sheet tray that is partially filled with hot water(add the water to the sheet tray after the tray is already in the oven, and be careful to not get water into the custard itself or else your flan might not set!). The water baking, if done correctly, can prevent scrambling in the flans themselves, but it is not 100% necessary since the flan we are making are minis and will bake quickly either way, so that portion takes care of the custard part. The caramel, I highly urge you to use a laser thermometer. Since we are using the kecap manis to make the caramel, and the kecap manis is already such a dark color, you can’t really gauge the temperature of the caramel from the color of it. You might be able to get away with simply bringing the kecap manis to a boil, but being able to get the temperature of it lends well to consistency and making sure that the kecap manis is properly caramelized for that gorgeous caramel layer that also doubles as a sauce for the cookie!

I know that I spoke a ton about the flan, which ironically is a garnish for the cookie itself, but it just has a lot more technicality to it than the cookie dough. The cookie is made with whipped butter, the kecap manis, brown sugar, and cardamom. I wanted to use a spice in this cookie to accentuate the gorgeous sweetness in the kecap manis, and I landed on cardamom because it added a pleasant fragrance to the final product. The cookie itself is a very soft cookie, that holds up to being soaked with the kecap manis caramel, I pressed indents into the tops of each cookie right as they came out of the oven, just so that there will be a little nest for the kecap manis leche flan to be placed into, making these little flan thumbprint cookies essentially. I did freeze the flan solid after baking them, just because it is easier to transport them into each cookie that way, so keep that in mind when you are doing your prep for these cookies. The cookies themselves, I made sure to fully cool them down too, just to not accidentally scramble the flan as well. These cookies are indulgent and rich, being stuffed with straight up flan, while the kecap manis caramel from the flan soaks into the soft, fluffy cookie, resulting in an almost cookie-melt situation. It manages to be both nostalgic and unique in a way that I really fell in love with as I made this recipe.

Makes 10 cookies:
For the kecap manis leche flan:
1.5oz kecap manis
1oz room temperature water, in two parts
1/2 cup milk
2 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a pot, bring the kecap manis and one part of the water to a boil. Once the mixture registers 260 degrees F, take the pot off heat and add in the remaining water. Stir until just combined and a pourable caramel forms. Divide the caramel amongst 10 1-inch silicone cylinder molds and allow the caramel to fully cool. Place the molds onto a sheet tray for easier transportation. In a pot, heat up your milk, bringing it to a simmer. In another bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients together. Pour the milk over the other ingredients and whisk until mixed. Pass the mixture through a sieve to remove any lumps and air bubbles and pour the flan batter into the silicone cylinder molds filled with the hardened caramel. Place the silicone molds on the sheet tray into an oven preheated to 300 degrees F and bake for 35 minutes. Freeze the flans solid before attempting to unmold.

For the kecap manis cookie dough:
1 stick unsalted butter
1oz kecap manis
3oz brown sugar
1 egg
1g vanilla
1 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of cardamom

In a bowl, whip the butter, kecap manis, sugar, egg, and vanilla together until combined. Sift into that the other ingredients and fold until a dough is formed. Scoop the cookie dough into 10 balls and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Place the dough balls on a lined sheet tray, spacing them about 2 inches apart from one another. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes. While the cookies are still warm, press indents into the centers of each using a rounded surface(I used a metal tablespoon). Once the cookies are fully cooled, place a flan into each one.