Tuesday, March 25, 2008

TWD- Caramel Flan

I have updated this at the bottom...

This weeks recipe was chosen by Steph at A Whisk and a Spoon. I have to admit that I have never made or even tasted Caramel Flan before, so I really didn't know what to expect. I like custard desserts, but I am not sure if I like this one or not. I didn't let it sit in the fridge for the full 4 hours, so I will try it again when it is completely cold.


Next weeks TWD recipe is chosen by the Lemon Tartlette herself, Leigh.


For the Caramel

1/3 cup sugar

3 tbsp water

squirt of fresh lemon juice


For the Flan

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

1-1/4 cups whole milk

3 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract


Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a roasting pan or a 9-x-13-inch baking pan with a double thickness of paper towels. Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils, turn off the heat.

Put a metal 8-x-2-inch round cake pan-not a nonstick one-in the oven to heat while you prepare the caramel.


To Make the Caramel: Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice together in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Put the pan over medium-high heat and cook until the sugar becomes an amber-colored caramel, about 5 minutes-remove the pan from the heat at the first whiff of smoke.Remove the cake pan from the oven and, working with oven mitts, pour the caramel into the pan and immediately tilt the pan to spread the caramel evenly over the bottom; set the pan aside.


To Make the Flan: Bring the cream and milk just to a boil.Meanwhile, in a 2-quart glass measuring cup or in a bowl, whisk together the eggs, yolks and sugar. Whisk vigorously for a minute or two, and then stir in the vanilla. Still whisking, drizzle in about one quarter of the hot liquid-this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they won't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the hot cream and milk. Using a large spoon, skim off the bubbles and foam that you worked up.Put the caramel-lined cake pan in the roasting pan. Pour the custard into the cake pan and slide the setup into the oven. Very carefully pour enough hot water from the kettle into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. (Don't worry if this sets the cake pan afloat.) Bake the flan for about 35 minutes, or until the top puffs a bit and is golden here and there. A knife inserted into the center of the flan should come out clean.Remove the roasting pan from the oven, transfer the cake pan to a cooking rack and run a knife between the flan and the sides of the pan to loosen it.

Let the flan cool to room temperature on the rack, then loosely cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.When ready to serve, once more, run a knife between the flan and the pan. Choose a rimmed serving platter, place the platter over the cake pan, quickly flip the platter and pan over and remove the cake pan-the flan will shimmy out and the caramel sauce will coat the custard.


Yield: 6 to 8 Servings
I have tried this again this afternoon, after it has been in the fridge all night and all day today...I still don't think that I like it. I will probably not make this again. But, I am glad that I had the chance to try it. Or, I would have never known.

22 comments:

noskos said...

In my opinion it should be served cold, maybe you'll like it better when it's chilled a little longer. Or maybe you don't, here it got mixed reviews, seems like not everybody cares for flan :-)

Engineer Baker said...

Hopefully you like it once it's completely chilled! Good luck!

Megan said...

I love flan. This would be fun to try when I make my mexican dinner for the Tamale Open!

Marie Rayner said...

We had our flan after it had been iin the fridge for at least 4 hours, if not longer and it was delicious. Hope you liked it better once it was chilled, in any case your flan looks delish!

Annemarie said...

I didn't wait long enough, either. It looks fabulous!

amanda. said...

I hope you like it once it's completely cool. I think it looks great though.

Anonymous said...

I hope you like it when it gets cold. It looks great!

Anonymous said...

I've never had flan (and I didn't get around to making it this week for the challenge), but my understanding is you either love it or not so much. Maybe it will be better chilled?

Helene said...

It turned out great! I think you'll like it better cold too.

Gretchen Noelle said...

I love that you are still on the fence about it. Flan is kind of like that. Looks tasty and creamy. Maybe you will like it more once its chilled well.

CB said...

I do think its an acquired taste. I love flan but I chilled mine overnight since I like it really cold. At least you can mark this off your bucket list right? Great job!
-Clara

Anonymous said...

Here, here! Too eggy for me, but I'm glad I did it.

Mari said...

Good job, you've tackled flan, now on to the next recipe! ;-)

Melissa said...

I didn't wait long enough either. I actually stuck mine in the freezer for a bit though so it would be cold...still not my favorite. At least we're trying new things, right?

Heather B said...

Yours looks great! I'm on the fence about flan...may have to make it again to decide how I like it.

Anonymous said...

sorry you didn't like it chilled either - it looks creamy and delicious to me. feel free to send them this way if there are leftovers you're not into!

Donna said...

Yes, send the leftovers to me! Mine is all gone :-(

Zakia / Avenue Z Desserts said...

sorry that you didnt like it. initially i was put off by the fact that the caramel wasnt sweet. but day by day i came to love it. i live alone and its gone.

Anonymous said...

i felt the same way about the flan - sorry you didn't like it either, but it looks great! :)

Natalie said...

It looks good, even if it's not your thing! (I wasn't very sure about it when I first tried it, but it's growing on me...)

Anonymous said...

Ive never had flan before. I dont know why because I have a sweet tooth the size of Texas!hehe! I love to visit your blog! I need to get that book!

Anonymous said...

I didn't like the flan either. I thought it was too eggy. But, I'm glad that I had the chance to try it and find out what it was like. Hopefully next week's recipe will be better!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

TWD- Caramel Flan

I have updated this at the bottom...

This weeks recipe was chosen by Steph at A Whisk and a Spoon. I have to admit that I have never made or even tasted Caramel Flan before, so I really didn't know what to expect. I like custard desserts, but I am not sure if I like this one or not. I didn't let it sit in the fridge for the full 4 hours, so I will try it again when it is completely cold.


Next weeks TWD recipe is chosen by the Lemon Tartlette herself, Leigh.


For the Caramel

1/3 cup sugar

3 tbsp water

squirt of fresh lemon juice


For the Flan

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

1-1/4 cups whole milk

3 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract


Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a roasting pan or a 9-x-13-inch baking pan with a double thickness of paper towels. Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils, turn off the heat.

Put a metal 8-x-2-inch round cake pan-not a nonstick one-in the oven to heat while you prepare the caramel.


To Make the Caramel: Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice together in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Put the pan over medium-high heat and cook until the sugar becomes an amber-colored caramel, about 5 minutes-remove the pan from the heat at the first whiff of smoke.Remove the cake pan from the oven and, working with oven mitts, pour the caramel into the pan and immediately tilt the pan to spread the caramel evenly over the bottom; set the pan aside.


To Make the Flan: Bring the cream and milk just to a boil.Meanwhile, in a 2-quart glass measuring cup or in a bowl, whisk together the eggs, yolks and sugar. Whisk vigorously for a minute or two, and then stir in the vanilla. Still whisking, drizzle in about one quarter of the hot liquid-this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they won't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the hot cream and milk. Using a large spoon, skim off the bubbles and foam that you worked up.Put the caramel-lined cake pan in the roasting pan. Pour the custard into the cake pan and slide the setup into the oven. Very carefully pour enough hot water from the kettle into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. (Don't worry if this sets the cake pan afloat.) Bake the flan for about 35 minutes, or until the top puffs a bit and is golden here and there. A knife inserted into the center of the flan should come out clean.Remove the roasting pan from the oven, transfer the cake pan to a cooking rack and run a knife between the flan and the sides of the pan to loosen it.

Let the flan cool to room temperature on the rack, then loosely cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.When ready to serve, once more, run a knife between the flan and the pan. Choose a rimmed serving platter, place the platter over the cake pan, quickly flip the platter and pan over and remove the cake pan-the flan will shimmy out and the caramel sauce will coat the custard.


Yield: 6 to 8 Servings
I have tried this again this afternoon, after it has been in the fridge all night and all day today...I still don't think that I like it. I will probably not make this again. But, I am glad that I had the chance to try it. Or, I would have never known.

22 comments:

noskos said...

In my opinion it should be served cold, maybe you'll like it better when it's chilled a little longer. Or maybe you don't, here it got mixed reviews, seems like not everybody cares for flan :-)

Engineer Baker said...

Hopefully you like it once it's completely chilled! Good luck!

Megan said...

I love flan. This would be fun to try when I make my mexican dinner for the Tamale Open!

Marie Rayner said...

We had our flan after it had been iin the fridge for at least 4 hours, if not longer and it was delicious. Hope you liked it better once it was chilled, in any case your flan looks delish!

Annemarie said...

I didn't wait long enough, either. It looks fabulous!

amanda. said...

I hope you like it once it's completely cool. I think it looks great though.

Anonymous said...

I hope you like it when it gets cold. It looks great!

Anonymous said...

I've never had flan (and I didn't get around to making it this week for the challenge), but my understanding is you either love it or not so much. Maybe it will be better chilled?

Helene said...

It turned out great! I think you'll like it better cold too.

Gretchen Noelle said...

I love that you are still on the fence about it. Flan is kind of like that. Looks tasty and creamy. Maybe you will like it more once its chilled well.

CB said...

I do think its an acquired taste. I love flan but I chilled mine overnight since I like it really cold. At least you can mark this off your bucket list right? Great job!
-Clara

Anonymous said...

Here, here! Too eggy for me, but I'm glad I did it.

Mari said...

Good job, you've tackled flan, now on to the next recipe! ;-)

Melissa said...

I didn't wait long enough either. I actually stuck mine in the freezer for a bit though so it would be cold...still not my favorite. At least we're trying new things, right?

Heather B said...

Yours looks great! I'm on the fence about flan...may have to make it again to decide how I like it.

Anonymous said...

sorry you didn't like it chilled either - it looks creamy and delicious to me. feel free to send them this way if there are leftovers you're not into!

Donna said...

Yes, send the leftovers to me! Mine is all gone :-(

Zakia / Avenue Z Desserts said...

sorry that you didnt like it. initially i was put off by the fact that the caramel wasnt sweet. but day by day i came to love it. i live alone and its gone.

Anonymous said...

i felt the same way about the flan - sorry you didn't like it either, but it looks great! :)

Natalie said...

It looks good, even if it's not your thing! (I wasn't very sure about it when I first tried it, but it's growing on me...)

Anonymous said...

Ive never had flan before. I dont know why because I have a sweet tooth the size of Texas!hehe! I love to visit your blog! I need to get that book!

Anonymous said...

I didn't like the flan either. I thought it was too eggy. But, I'm glad that I had the chance to try it and find out what it was like. Hopefully next week's recipe will be better!