This silky and creamy dessert is very close to the English custard tart and the Spanish Pastels de Nata. Originally, the Flan patissier comes from the English custard tart from the time of Henry IV.
This flan is so delicious because it has a very thin crisp and golden crust and of course the best part; the thick and hight layer of cooked custard. The flavour of the filling is so strong but soft at the same time thanks to using vanilla bean paste. Of course, you could use the fresh seeds of a vanilla pod if you prefer but you might be a little disappointed if you only use vanilla extract. As you can see in the picture bellow, little specks of vanilla are visible and the taste really doesn't disappoint.
When some people think of a Flan, they think of a soggy bottom dessert, hard to digest and with not much flavour, but with this recipe solves all three of those problems.
This recipe uses cornflour and not flour because four would need a longer cooking time for it to be as digestible as the cornflour.
Some flans have a base of puff pastry but I prefer it with a crisp home-made shortcrust pastry. But you do as you like, if you are a little short on time you could use a store-bought shortcrust pastry.
In the recipe, I give the measurements for the pastry but not the instructions because to make it, you do the same things you would any other pastry; Mix all the ingredients together apart from the water until the mixture resembles wet sand and then add in the water, a teaspoon at a time until a ball forms. Leave in the fridge for 1 hour then roll between 2 sheets of baking parchment and then place into tall buttered cake tin. Leave in the fridge for 1 hour before baking.
The secret to getting a crisp pastry bottom is to place the pastry once it's in the tin in the fridge for at least an hour, so make to sure to not skip this step!
Ingredients:
1 sweet shortcrust pastry (150 g plain four + 80 g butter + 1 egg yolk + 20 g icing sugar + water)
280 g milk
250 g double cream
130 g water
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
150 g caster sugar
60 g cornflour, sifted
Recipe:
Pre-heat the oven at 180°C and grease a high -top cake tin. Of course, the shape of the cake depends on what shape you want your flan to be but I want a high one.
Roll out your pastry and place inside. Leave in the fridge for 1 hour.
Then bake blind for 15 minutes. Leave to cool and heat the oven to 220°C.
Make the filling: Whisk the eggs + egg yolks with the sugar until light in colour.
Heat the milk + cream + vanilla bean paste until simmering.
While the milk heats up, incorporate the sifted cornflour into the egg mixture.
Once the milk is simmering, add half into the egg mixture and whisk until incorporated. Add your mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining half of milk and whisk continuously until the mixture thickens.
Once the mixture is thick, pour into the baked pastry.
Bake for 5 minutes at 220°C and then 30-40 minutes at 150°C.
Before you leave, don't forget to:
Check out the new Baking Glossary on the blog if you are unsure of any baking terms.
Subscribe to receive notifications when another post goes up.
Tag me on Instagram if you recreate a recipe from the blog, @decadent_foodblog to get a shoutout.
Comments