Flan

flan (12 of 6)

Flan is one of my youngest son’s favorite desserts. He orders it whenever it is available and often requests it for his birthday. I haven’t made a flan is a long time, and promised him it would be my next post, so here it is.

Now that I’ve made it, I can’t believe I don’t do it more often. So easy and delicious. (I’ve made it dozens of times since I first posted this recipe and have used a loaf pan, as well as the round one. Both are equally as easy, but produce different looks).

Flan is a creamy custard that is bound by lots of whole eggs and can be silky smooth if baked just right. The trick is to bake it in a water bath until it is just set like jello, then take it out before the proteins in the eggs cook too tight and get rubbery. It is super simple, but takes knowing what to look for. You can watch me make it in my instagram video, so you’ll know the signs of a perfect flan.

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Raspberry Custard Tart (Flan Parisien)

Raspberry Custard Tart (Flan Parisien) | Photo by Zoë François

This is a wonderful tart filled with vanilla custard. You’ll find custard tart in every patisserie in Paris, but have likely never come across one here in the states. Its rustic simplicity is exactly the kind of pastry I love. It’s really quite easy to create; a tart dough (this recipe uses a bit of potato starch, which makes it even more tender, because there is less gluten to get excited and tough) that goes up the sides of a ring mold baked with a pastry cream. I added raspberries to give it a bit more character, some tartness and they’re just pretty. 

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