how to make Eggless Leche Flan

This is a recipe I got from Yummy Mag. It's a vegan leche flan recipe that's not laden with cholesterol and excess fat. I had second thoughts trying this one out because I obviously like my leche flan rich, sweet and creamy with all the egg yolks in it. But I saw that the ingredients require me coconut milk which I was also to use for my Chicken Curry, the rest of the ingredients I already have in my pantry except for the gulaman. so I decided I'd give it a go. I've actually changed a few ingredients to suit our taste. Below you'll find what's in the original recipe.

Ingredients:
for the caramel:
1cup coconut or washed sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tsp calamansi juice

for the flan:
1 1/2 cups of fresh milk
1 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup coconut or washed sugar
1/3 cup water
2 tsp unsweetened unflavored clear powdered gulaman
4 tsp cornstarch, mixed in 1/2 cup fresh milk

Procedure:
for the caramel:
in a small saucepan, combine all ingredients. bring to a boil over medium heat and cook without stirring for 5-10 mins, until the caramel reaches a deep amber color. (to test, drop a bit of the mixture into  a glass of cold water, if you can form a soft, flexible ball of caramel with your fingers, it's ready.)

pour a thin layer of caramel into the bottom of the molds. set aside. (note: this recipe makes 2 llaneras of leche flans)

for the flan:
in a saucepan, add fresh milk, coconut milk, sugar and water. sprinkle gulaman and whisk to dissolve. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

lower heat and whisk in cornstarch-fresh milk mixture. cook and stir until slightly thickened and smooth, about 5-7mins. remove from heat.

pour flan into the caramel-lined molds. let cool to room temperature then move to the refrigerator to firm up for a few more hours.

P.S. For the flan to be vegan, use soy milk. I actually don't like the taste of soy milk that's why I used fresh milk instead. You can use lemon juice if without calamansi juice. Apart from cornstarch, you can try potato or tapioca starch. Remember that the gulaman should be unsweetened and unflavored. The recipe added zest of 2 lemons in the flan and 2 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tbsp flavorful rum. I forgot to add both but I guess it didn't so much affect the result because we honestly ended up enjoying this flan. It would probably tasted better with the extract and the zest but wouldn't destroy it big time. It's yummy and delish. This is one recipe I'll proudly tell my mom.

Bon Appetito!