Flan: The Topic

[Suvir Saran]

What desserts to serve - Thread on the Indian forum

Monica asks in the thread above as to what makes a perfect flan.

Any ideas??

[Jaymes]

What desserts to serve - Thread on the Indian forum

Monica asks in the thread above as to what makes a perfect flan.

Any ideas??

Texture and flavor and lots of the gooey sauce.

[Lesley C]

Not too many whites used in the mix, and cooked just so.

[Suvir Saran]

Not too many whites used in the mix, and cooked just so.

just so ............ delicately? in a bath of water? Without the custard really boiling?

[Monica Bhide]

Mine tastes a bit "eggy"... does that describe it? I am not getting the smooth sweet taste i want

[Suvir Saran]

Mine tastes a bit "eggy"... does that describe it? I am not getting the smooth sweet taste i want

How do you bake your flan? That has much to do with the texture. And of course yolks are better than whites.

[Suvir Saran]

I am famous for flans... and my cookbook has several of them.

So I cannot give recipes just yet... but would be happy to work with yours and see why it does not seem to come out smooth.

My editor is not too happy about me sharing so many recipes.... But I keep promising her I have many more up my sleeve.

How do you make yours... what proportions are you using? What do you bake the flan in? And at what temperature... And do you do anything special when baking it?

I grew up having a maternal grandma that could make a flan at the drop of a hat. Especially in the winters it was quick and easy as she would make them in the pressure cooker and serve them hot. Divine in the bone chilling winter of Delhi. (remember we do not have central heating in India).

[Monica Bhide]

Apparently not baking it right I think I am using too many egg whites .. does anyone have a fool proof recipe for me to try?

Suvir, you would be proud of me, thanks to egulleters I made a fool proof clotted cream ( now that I know what it is) and served it with my mom's Sweet Rice (Meete Chawal).. recipe similar to your wonderful recipe. It worked! It tasted great and was exotic looking enough for people to think I am a gourmet chef!!

[Monica Bhide]

I am going to get my cheat sheet that has my recipe, be back in a few and post it.. you can all then do a dissection to figure out if it is the recipe or me!

[Jaymes]

My editor is not too happy about me sharing so many recipes....

You must tell her at once that due to the "off-topic chats" she would not like eGullet at all, and that she must stay away. (Until after the book is published, of course.)

[Suvir Saran]

Apparently not baking it right    I think I am using too many egg whites .. does anyone have a fool proof recipe for me to try?

Suvir, you would be proud of me, thanks to egulleters  I made a fool proof clotted cream ( now that I know what it is) and served it with my mom's Sweet Rice (Meete Chawal).. recipe similar to your wonderful recipe. It worked! It tasted great and was exotic looking enough for people to think I am a gourmet chef!!

Proud of you? I think many are proud of you.. and for many reasons.

Glad to know the clotted cream worked.

Post the recipe... Flan is very easy... Baking is my preferred way to make them.. The pressure cooker recipe is great for a quick and simple flan. It has its own unique plusses... But baking is far better.

[Suvir Saran]

My editor is not too happy about me sharing so many recipes....

You must tell her at once that due to the "off-topic chats" she would not like eGullet at all, and that she must stay away. (Until after the book is published, of course.)

She know eGullet rather well. Nothing is hidden from her.

[Monica Bhide]

Apparently not baking it right     I think I am using too many egg whites .. does anyone have a fool proof recipe for me to try?

Suvir, you would be proud of me, thanks to egulleters  I made a fool proof clotted cream ( now that I know what it is) and served it with my mom's Sweet Rice (Meete Chawal).. recipe similar to your wonderful recipe. It worked! It tasted great and was exotic looking enough for people to think I am a gourmet chef!!

Proud of you? I think many are proud of you.. and for many reasons.

Glad to know the clotted cream worked.

Post the recipe... Flan is very easy... Baking is my preferred way to make them.. The pressure cooker recipe is great for a quick and simple flan. It has its own unique plusses... But baking is far better.

Basically this is what i am doing

Maple Flan

1 cup maple syrup

3 cups heavy cream

8 large egg yolks

2 Tablespoons sugar

water

Pour the maple syrup in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, place over low heat, and let simmer

Add the cream and salt and stir until the mixture is smooth and comes back to a simmer.

Whisk eggs and mix all the syrip ingredients

caramalize the sugar and coat the ramekins. Pour the custard base into the ramekins. Arrange them in a baking pan . Pour enough very hot water into the baking pan to reach two-thirds of the way up the sides of the ramekins. cover and bake the flans for about 45 minutes, till done

[nightscotsman]

I think possibly you might be using too much cream. That would tend to make the finished flan/creme caramel heavy. I would try using half cream and half whole milk.

[Jaymes]

This is a recipe I make every Christmas. Works out well. I know that it's heretic for me to suggest this, Monica, but maybe your recipe is too "eggy" because of all the yolks....

Pumpkin Flan

1 C sugar

1 1/2 lb pumpkin (I buy the small cooking pumpkins)

5 whole eggs

1 C condensed sweetened milk

1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 t ground ginger

1/4 t ground nutmeg

1/8 t ground cloves

1 t vanilla

3/4 C whole milk

Caramelize sugar in skillet (actually, I do it in a microwave) until golden. Pour into 8x1 deep cake pan (not glass). Cool completely.

You want 1 1/2 cups of pumpkin puree. I cut and bake the pumpkin and then scoop out the flesh, process it in the food processor until pureed. Cool completely.

Beat whole eggs by hand until well combined, but not at all frothy. Add condensed milk, puree, all spices and mix, by hand or on low speed, just enough to blend well. Add whole milk and mix on low speed just until well-blended. (Obviously the goal here is to thoroughly combine without adding a lot of air that would make air bubbles in the flan.)

Pour into pan with caramel. Place in larger pan and add water to larger pan until it comes 2/3 up side of pan with flan. Place in middle oven rack in oven preheated to 350º. Bake for 50 minutes. Flan is ready when you move the pan and there are no "waves" in the center.

Remove pan from water bath and refrigerate at least 48 hours.

To unmold: press down sides of flan gently with back of spoon to release flan from sides of pan. Get a large serving platter and hold over flan and invert. Caramel will have softened and will drip down sides of flan.

Garnish with whipped cream (if desired) and sprinkles of cinnamon.

[Suvir Saran]

This is a recipe I make every Christmas.  Works out well.  I know that it's heretic for me to suggest this, Monica, but maybe your recipe is too "eggy" because of all the yolks....

Pumpkin Flan

1 C sugar

1 1/2 lb pumpkin (I buy the small cooking pumpkins)

5 whole eggs

1 C condensed sweetened milk

1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 t ground ginger

1/4 t ground nutmeg

1/8 t ground cloves

1 t vanilla

3/4 C whole milk

Caramelize sugar in skillet (actually, I do it in a microwave) until golden.  Pour into 8x1 deep cake pan (not glass).  Cool completely.

You want 1 1/2 cups of pumpkin puree.  I cut and bake the pumpkin and then scoop out the flesh, process it in the food processor until pureed.  Cool completely.

Beat whole eggs by hand until well combined, but not at all frothy.  Add condensed milk, puree, all spices and mix, by hand or on low speed, just enough to blend well.  Add whole milk and mix on low speed just until well-blended.  (Obviously the goal here is to thoroughly combine without adding a lot of air that would make air bubbles in the flan.)

Pour into pan with caramel.  Place in larger pan and add water to larger pan until it comes 2/3 up side of pan with flan.  Place in middle oven rack in oven preheated to 350º.  Bake for 50 minutes.  Flan is ready when you move the pan and there are no "waves" in the center.

Remove pan from water bath and refrigerate at least 48 hours.

To unmold:  press down sides of flan gently with back of spoon to release flan from sides of pan.  Get a large serving platter and hold over flan and invert.  Caramel will have softened and will drip down sides of flan.

Garnish with whipped cream (if desired) and sprinkles of cinnamon.

Mine is closer to yours... In one recipe I also use condensed milk. In some I do not.

In some I use cream cheese as well. In some I use half and half. But I use whole egss but not as many as Monica. I also use an extra yolk or two.

[Bux]

There is such a degree of subjectivity that there is no perfect recipe. Extra yolks will "enrich" any custard. What we are talking about is a custard. All cream and all yolks will make a very rich dessert that many will find too rich. A flan made with all milk and whole eggs may seem too light to others. There are cultural differences as well. My in-laws all make flan with extra egg yolks that seems too gummy and eggy by comparison to a French creme caramel, but after a diet of latino flans, the French version can seem almost like a diet dessert.

I think the one secret is in slow even cooking. It's not just as Suvir said, that you don't want it to boil, but that the custard should not set before all the air has gone out of it. A water bath is highly advisable as may be cooking it at a lower temperature and longer period of time than called for in the recipe. We discovered the calibration was off on our oven when it took so long for the custard to bake, but we also discovered they were so much better for it.

[Suvir Saran]

There is such a degree of subjectivity that there is no perfect recipe. Extra yolks will "enrich" any custard. What we are talking about is a custard. All cream and all yolks will make a very rich dessert that many will find too rich. A flan made with all milk and whole eggs may seem too light to others. There are cultural differences as well. My in-laws all make flan with extra egg yolks that seems too gummy and eggy by comparison to a French creme caramel, but after a diet of latino flans, the French version can seem almost like a diet dessert.

I think the one secret is in slow even cooking. It's not just as Suvir said, that you don't want it to boil, but that the custard should not set before all the air has gone out of it. A water bath is highly advisable as may be cooking it at a lower temperature and longer period of time than called for in the recipe. We discovered the calibration was off on our oven when it took so long for the custard to bake, but we also discovered they were so much better for it.

Slow cooking is essential.

I keep adding cold water into the bath...

My flans cook between the 1 1/4 - 1/12 hour range.

And my Latin influenced flans are more cheesecake like and amazing..

and yes my French influenced ones are like having a diet flan... I love both... and find occasions to serve both... and often together.

But I always make lots of caramel. That is my favorite.

[Monica Bhide]

Thank you all, this is quite amazing, I will try your Jaymes and let you know how it turns out, the recipe is very appealing

[Lesley C]

You're all talking about a flan like a creme caramel right? I thought you meant the French tart.

[Bux]

I started off by using the word custard, but slipped back into flan myself. I think in the US, creme caramel is flan. I suppose it's that the latino influence especially from the Caribbean and Mexico that has added flan to American English.

[Jaymes]

You're all talking about a flan like a creme caramel, right?

I thought you meant the French tart.

Right.

And it took me a time or two (years ago) to figure out that the custard type of flan didn't work too well in that cute little white fluted "flan" pan I had bought.

Edited December 8, 2002 by Jaymes (log)

[Suvir Saran]

You're all talking about a flan like a creme caramel right? I thought you meant the French tart.

Yes Mam.

[Monica Bhide]

I DID IT.. finally. I used to make good flans till I decided to do this maple syrup thing. But I did it. I am so thrilled... dont laugh all you professional chefs out there...

I reduced the egg by one, added a bit of milk to the cream, and reduced the cooking temp. Dont know what worked, but some of this did. Chef Pascal of the French cooking school here helped a bit

But I am good to go, thanks for all your wonderful advice.

[wingding]

The wonderful flavor of reduced milk is what I love in a classic Mexican flan.Instead of mixing a proportion of milk and cream,I reduce milk...also just enough yolks to produce a nice texture,but no eggy taste.See Rick Bayless' 'Authentic Mexican' for details.Also,when baking in a water bath,fill 1/3 up with hot water,not 1/2,not 1/4.It makes a big difference,in my experience.