Let's Talk About Flan

Smooth, creamy, and covered in its own caramel sauce; what's not to love about flan? Flan is a dessert that for a long period of my life I knew I loved it even if I had never tried it. There is something about custard based desserts that sends my senses to the moon and back. The taste of vanilla, the smell of the caramel (which for someone like me, who does not like caramel very much, is saying something). 

No, not that flan. Silly Final Fantasy you do not fight the flan you eat it.

So what is flan? It is essentially a sweet custard that has been baked in a mold, lined with caramel, until it is set. Since pastry school I have come across three types of recipes for flan. All fairly similar but different enough that if you have difficulty with one you are sure to find another recipe that you prefer.

The first is similar to a creme anglaise, it consists of milk, eggs, yolks, sugar and vanilla. This recipe is a bit more difficult than the following two but that is only because it requires you to boil the milk and then temper it in with the eggs. If you do not constantly whisk while adding the hot milk you are going to get scrambled eggs, and while scrambled eggs may be good for breakfast they have no business being in dessert. When I say constantly whisking, I mean constantly whisking. The first time I made a pastry cream on my own I thought I might be able to pour the liquid in, place the pot down then begin whisking. Nope, in those few seconds I had already prepared scrambled eggs. 

The second is a recipe I learned at work. It is similar to the first in that you need to temper the ingredients. However the difference is that instead of milk you used condensed milk and cream. You boil the cream and add it to the condensed milk and egg yolks.A little bit easier but not as easy as the following recipe.

The recipe I used most recently required absolutely no tempering at all. Before we get into the custard we must first make a caramel. This is also fairly easy once you learn what to look for. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar

Method:

1. In a small pot, over medium high heat, place about a 1/3 of the sugar. once the sides begin to liquify move the pot back and forth to distribute the liquid and add a bit more sugar.
2. Keep doing this until the sugar has melted. Do not leave it settled for too long or it will burn. Another important note about caramel to remember is that it is always darker in the pan than it actually is so it's okay if it looks a bit darker. 
3. Pour into ramekin or pan of your choosing.

See? How easy was that? You are on your way to making caramel. Now onto the worlds easiest custard recipe.

Ingredients:

• 6 Eggs
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract 
• 14 oz condensed milk
• 24 oz evaporated milk

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Whisk the eggs, sugar, and vanilla together until smooth. Whisk immediately after adding sugar or you will burn the yolks.
3. Add each of the milks and whisk until smooth. 
4. Pour into caramel lined ramekin or pan.
5. Drop oven to 325 F and bake in a water bath for 35-45 minutes. When it is finished the flan will still jiggle slightly but it should not look watery. 
6. Once the flan is ready remove from the oven and allow to cool before placing it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. 
7. When you are ready to serve run a knife around the edge of the pan and flip onto an appropriate plate. 

This was made using the first method.

Then that's it! You have delicious flan! The great thing about flan is that it is so easy and delicious, it's a light flavor that is not too heavy on the stomach.  I tried this recipe last night and it was delectable but unfornately I only took a blurry picture of it, and now it is half devoured so taking a new picture is out. So if you are wondering what flan should look like (I guess you could always google it) here is a picture of the flan from my final exam at pastry school.

I recently had a birthday and my wonderful mother-in-law gave me a Le Creuset tart pan. You've seen this cookware before, chances are you know them because they are heavy and they come in a variety of colors. Le Creuset has been in business for nearly 90 years, so they know what they are doing when it comes to cookware. I am so excited to have my first piece and cannot wait to continue adding to my collection. 

From the moment I unwrapped my present and saw the beautiful purple tart pan there my mind was buzzing of what to bake in it first. Naturally I could make a tart as that was the intended use but instead I decided that this marvelous gift would need to make something extra special. It turned out to be the perfect thing for making a large flan and it came out wonderfully.