Receta Flan
This is my submission for
Portugal Day caught my eye because I spent a week in Portugal many years ago. We spent most of our time in the costal town of Ovar just south of Oporto. An overnight trip to Estoril rounded out our our stay before catching the train from Lisbon back to Madrid, where we were stationed at the time.
Lest you think this sounds glamorous, let me tell you that this was in the days before ATMs. Our inability to speak the language led to spending much more than we intended on dinner our first night there, and we spent the rest of the trip watching our centavos.
I remember learning two lessons on this trip - to take great care when ordering seafood at market price, and Port wine makes for great sipping.
The dish I chose to make, flan, could call many countries home. Portugal is just one of them. My aunt fixed this more me when I was a teenager. She had been living in Brazil, a former Portuguese colony, so I think in my mind there's alwasy been a link between flan and Portugal.
My aunt's recipe used sweetened condensed milk, as many recipes do. Lately, I've been making this version.
Ingredients
- 3/4 c. sugar (for caramelizing the molds)
- 1/3 c. water
- 3/4 c. sugar
- 1 1/3 c. milk
- 1 1/3 c. half-and-half
- 3 eggs
- 5 egg yolks
- 1 1/2 t. vanilla
Directions
Using six 6-oz. molds, place them in a baking pan at least 2 inches deep.
Place 3/4 c. sugar and water in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, continue cooking until an amber color.
Immediately and carefully pour the hot sugar into the molds.
Heat the overn to 325.
In a medium saucepan, combine remaining sugar, milk, and half-and-half. Over medium heat, stir until it comes to a simmer.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolks, slowly pour in warm milk.
Stir in vanilla.
Strain through a fine mesh strainer, as you pour or ladle the custard into the molds.
Add simmering water to the baking pan to create a hot water bath for the molds.
Bake 50 - 60 minutes or until barely set int he middle.
Let the custards cool in the hot water bath, which takes about an hour.
Refrigerate 2 hours before serving.
To serve, run a small knife around the top edge of each flan. Place a serving plate on top of the mold. Holding them together tightly, turn them over, and give a shake until you hear the flan plop onto the plate.
Serves 6