Flan: The Topic

[joiei]

I love the recipe for the Napolitano; one small problem, I do not have a silver knife to check for doneness. I did not think that eggs and silver went together very well. At least in my experience. When I worked at Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo, we did flans for the seafood buffet every week and they were gobbled up.

[Jaymes]

Joiei -- what kind of flans did you make at Ocean Reef? Just basic, or flavored, with condensed milk or what.

[Chris Amirault]

What are the differences between Spanish and Mexican flan? Is one more eggy or sweet than the other?

[aznsailorboi]

Hi guys, busy weekend, I didn't fall out of the face of the earth....just yet did anybody make flan this weekend? I made some but sadly I wasn't able to take pics, I made it saturday, and it was one of those out of the blues kinda deal. By the time I remembered to take pics I was halfway done. I'll make it again soon, it was annihilated as soon it came out of the fridge, even my chihuahua took part by licking the caramel off the ramekins

Thanks Ludja, can't wait for you to try it! which cooking method are you gonna use?

Suzy- I've actually had a Cheese Flan before. It was pretty good, the one I had was actually cooked Bain Marie method then they grated cheese on top at the last minutes of baking and broiled it so the top got that creme brulee treatment only it was with cheese not sugar. An interesting variety of flan, although "flan purists" might disagree coz of the cheese topping and the cheese floaties in the flan, my suggestion: try it before you kick it. Oh and Suzy, what kind of cheese did you use? The one that I had, had "pasteurized cheese product" < I can already see the "ewwww" on some of y'alls faces hahahahahahaha I don't care its good though.

Tryska- I've used orange zest as well when I couldnt get a hold of lime.

Chris- I'm not sure about the difference with Spanish and Mexican flan. I know for sure that back during the Spanish occupation in the Philippines (acc. to historic literature) egg yolks were the main ingredient in a plethora of desserts and a very appropriate example would be our topic of discussion...The Flan... the emergence of these eggyolk based desserts is because during that time period (ca. 1500's), the Spaniards were building all sorts of infrastructures; churches, city halls, big mansions for the governors and all the other high ranking officials. And guess what they use to seal the stone blocks together? Eggwhites. So now what happens to the millions and millions of eggyolks? They get sent to the convents, so that the nuns would make sweets out of them...and keep them busy. and thats how our eggyolk based sweets came about. There was actually a time when they switched popularity, and the yolks were in demand, and they don't know what to do with the whites, but thats a different story.

[ludja]

Hi guys, busy weekend, I didn't fall out of the face of the earth....just yet did anybody make flan this weekend? I made some but sadly I wasn't able to take pics, I made it saturday, and it was one of those out of the blues kinda deal. By the time I remembered to take pics I was halfway done. I'll make it again soon, it was annihilated as soon it came out of the fridge, even my chihuahua took part by licking the caramel off the ramekins 

Thanks Ludja, can't wait for you to try it! which cooking method are you gonna use?

...

←

I think I will try the steaming method you described in order to see if I can minimize the occurrence of bubbles. I only have to figure out to how to rig a large enough steaming setup. I have some bamboo steamers and I also have some racks that could be set in some of my deeper pots.

I really like the idea of using lime zest as a flavoring.

[phaelon56]

I have only three words: Guava Cheeese Flan. Yum. (okay - that's four words).

[aznsailorboi]

Ludja use the bamboo steamer if possible, it absorbs the excess steam that turns into droplets at the bottom of the steamer cover, even though the moulds are sealed with a plastic wrap and secured with rubber band or twine, you really dont want the tops of the wrap to pool with water from the droplets. If all you have are metal pots use a kitchen towel and secure it taut around the mouth of the pot cover with twine so now you have a "droplet" guard.

Phaelon-got a recipe for that?

[chefmoni]

Canela added to the scalding milk....divine. i use canela most of the time rather than regular cinnamon sticks, as i prefer the depth and roundness of flavor. highly recommened!

5 new eggs today! Time to try ut another recipe.

   

Are you using eggs or egg yolks?  Perhaps increasing the milk a bit would be a good idea.  The condensed milk version is tasty, but very "tough" and quite sweet.

4 eggs and 6 additional yolks.

1 quart of reduced milk and only 1/2 a cup of sugar.

This wan't bad but just a bit too eggy for me.

I have a flan recipe I need to excavate from a former pastry instructor ... his mom was from Galicia and his flan was killer:  tender, quivering, silky, and not too eggy.

I'm quivering just thinking about it!

    Also, are you considering making Huevos Reales with the yolks and meringues with the whites?  Or turron (nougat)?

Recipes , please! Meringues I'm ok with but the other two.....

But Caroline, our gal in Mexico, had a wonderful thread a while back on making flan in a pressure cooker.

I'll get there but I want to master the old fashioned way first.

When I first started making flans, some 40 years ago, my Mexican friends called that recipe with the condensed milk, "Gringo Flan."

I see recipes all over the map. Some ask for sweetened condensed milk and others call for evaporated milk. Some call for whole milk while others want milk and cream.

I've tried Kennedy and now I have Bayless open and will give him a try unless one of you gets back to this thread lickety split. I have lots of eggs coming so there's plenty of room for mistakes and experiments.

Has anyone tried a stick of canela while reducing the milk?

Here's one of my girls in action!!!

Hey Jaymes- weren't you visiting when she was just a chick????

←

[chefmoni]

I often do a Cheese Flan, whose recipe I got from a Cuban former neighbor. It contains cream cheese as well as the eggs. I also make Pumpkin Flan, which is a popular dessert in Japan, of all places.

←

Hi Suzy,

May I ask what is your recipe for the Pumpkin Flan? I've tried to make it, but it came out a little tough -- I'm guessing due to the fiberous nature of pumpkin, event though I passed it through a fine mesh sieve.....

Thanks!

[Gruzia]

So this weekend i made the flan from CookWise - it called for 7 egg yolks and 4 whole eggs (plus 3 cups milk and 1 cup heavy cream)

The texture came out beautiful - it's super smooth and luscious BUT the taste is definately caramel egg!

My question - is this because of something i did - maybe didn't bake it quite enough, old yolks, etc - or is this something I should have expected from the recipe given the amount of the eggs it asks for?

thanks!

[Ce'nedra]

Is there a difference in the texture of the flan if I steam or bake? I tend to steam which comes out rather luscious...