Monday, March 14, 2011

Flan

Recipe found on allrecipes.com a couple years back:

We love flan! We definitley try not to make it too often because it is extremely calorie filled and slides down your throat way too easy to not just finish off the whole thing between the two of us within an hour of its being done.

Whisk together:
10 egg yolks (you could save the whites to make angel food cake later)
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk

In a small saucepan, combine:
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp brown sugar
Cook this over medium heat, let it start bubbling, and stirring constantly allow it to cook a minute or two, once it has started to bubble, until it looks like the two are pretty well incorporated (like caramel, but it will be more grainy).

Spread the "caramel" into the bottome of a pie-plate, then pour the custard on top. Cover the pan with foil. Make sure to make the piece of foil large enough that you can make the undersides of the pie rim, where you "clamp" the foil over the sides, a little bit thick, which makes it easier to get the pan off the pot of water when it is done cooking. Also, bend the foil a little so it has a sort of tent or dome shape to it so it doesn't drape itself in the custard much.

Fill a large pot about 1/2 way full with water and bring to a simmer on the stove. I use a pot, whose diameter is almost equal to the diameter of the top edge of the pie plate so that it cooks as evenly as possible. Place the pie plate over the simmering water and cook for 65 - 90 minutes. The recipe says 65 - 70, but I almost always cook mine closer to 90 or even 15 minutes longer. You can check it periodically to see if it seems done. The longer you cook it the more "eggy" it becomes, the lesser amount of time allows it to stay soft and custardy. So just choose how you prefer it. When you check it the middle may not seem done, put your finger in to see if it actually is done but just has a pool of mixture + condensation on the top, that is usually the case once it has hit the 75 minute time limit. Once cooked pull off of water and allow to sit for 30 minutes before serving.

To serve, loosen the flan from the pie plate by running a knife around the edges, invert onto a serving plate. Serve warm or cold.

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