Angela's Flan anyone?

[philamark]

I don't know which issue it was from, but I love the recipe for Angela's flan. I was wondering if anybody else makes it. The recipe appeared sometime last year in CL as I recall. I think it makes a wonderful dessert and wanted to hear of other readers' experiences with this recipe. I still don't know if I'm making the caramel right as the recipe calls for, I use 2 TBSP water (recipe called for 1). But it all tasted great, and that's what counts, right?

[buddie]

i have made it and loved it!!! here is the recipe for others:

i failed the 1st time making the carmel but 2nd time suceeded. (see how i fixed it the 2nd time around)


ANGELA'S FLAN
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp water
cooking spray
2 cups 2% milk
1 tbsp white rum
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract (i used vanilla again)
1/8 tsp cinnamon
4 large eggs
1 (14oz) can low fat sweetened condensed milk

1. preheat oven to 350

2. combine sugar and water in a small heavy saucpan and cook over medium high heat until sugar dissolves stirring frequently. continue cooking 3 minutes or until golden stirring consistently. immediately pour into 8 (6 oz) custard cups coated with cooking spray. tipping quickly until caramelized sugar coats the bottoms of cups. (now i couldn't do this fast enough so i tossed each cup in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds to liquidfy the carmel so i could swirl carmel around...)

3. combine milk and remaing inredients in a blender. process until smooth. divide the mixture into custard cups. place cups in the bottem of a broiler pan, add not water to pan to a depth of 1 inch. bake at 350 for 55 minutes or until a knife inserter in center comes out clean. remove cups from pan cool completely on wire rack cover and chill at least 8 hrs...

4. loosen edges with knife and invert on plate, enjoy!

[philamark]

Thanks Buddie.....it's nice to know of others making this flan...it's marvelous! I still struggle to know if I'm making the caramel right.....does your water and sugar eventually turn back into sugar particles before melting into the caramel stage?

[LaraW]

Would this work to put into one large pan rather than 8 small custard cups? I am supposed to take flan to our CL Group's Cinco de Mayo party (since I have an actual flan pan). Do you think it would work? My pan is shaped like a pie plate, except with fluted edges. The bottom comes out, sort of like a tart pan.

[Jessica]

I love this recipe!! I vary it with different liqueurs--Kahlua is good.
I always have to cook the sugar till it turns grainy and then melt it a second time to get it to brown.
Not sure if it would work in a big pan because it is not very dense and it might fall apart. Maybe a springform would work?

[ewatkins]

I don't know why you couldn't make it in a big pan--that's what flan is supposed to be. I made a pumpkin flan once for T'sgiving and it was in one big pan-turned out fine. I think you'd have to cook it longer.
But how can you use a pan with a removable bottom for a totally liquid recipe? Won't it all leak out? I think you need a glass or ceramic dish to conduct the heat from the hot water bath.

[This message has been edited by ewatkins (edited 04-24-2001).]

[Jessica]

You are right, the springform was a bad idea. I was thinking that cheesecake does not leak, but the custard is thinner than cheesecake batter.

[philamark]

Jessica: When you melt it a 2nd time, do you add more water into the sugar? I only mix it with water from the beginning, I use 2 TBSPs. Just wondering if you add more water later?

[buddie]

the first time my carmel failed i had the heat to high i believe so it quickly went from carmel to sugar crystals. i couldn't get anything to happen after that so i threw it out.

the second time i followed directions to a t and it seemed to work but i had to heat it in the microwave to get it to pour into the cups.

i think the key was having the temp at the right heat and stirring constantly. IT WAS NOT EASY!

[This message has been edited by buddie (edited 04-24-2001).]

[Jessica]

I don't add more water. I just keep stirring and wait for it to melt again. That seems to work for me.

[aggie94]

I make flan fairly often, as my DH loves it. It's his mother's recipe, so it's the only one I've ever made (and it's definitely not light), but I caramelize the sugar without any water. I use a fairly cheap (not non-stick) 9-inch cake pan and throw about 1/4 or 1/2 cup of sugar in there. Over a medium-low burner, I constantly stir the sugar until it caramelizes -- it takes quite a while. Then I pour the flan batter right into the pan over the caramel. Then, after baking and cooling, it flips right out of the pan with the caramel coating the top. Sounds so much easier than the other flan recipes I've seen. And it's come out perfectly every time.

[philamark]

Thank you all for the great tips...that's a neat idea Aggie on how you do your caramel. Jessica, when you do yours, are you saying that your mixture does form back to crystals and then you let it melt again? That's what happens to my caramel following the recipe, the original sugar and water solution eventually forms back into a powder/crystal mixture and I just keep stirring this powder and it melts again into finally a caramel. I just want to make sure that this is normal.
Thanks everyone!

[Jessica]

Philamark--I don't know if it is normal but that is exactly what happens to my caramel and it always works for me.

[philamark]

Jessica: Thank you, I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one that this happens to. You've been very helpful....I see this topic spilled over to another thread (oooo, spilled over, that can hurt if it's hot caramel!) http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Joyce]

I make the C/L almond flan all the time, and it calls for carmelizing the sugar and baking the flan all in one 8" layer cake pan. It works wonderfully, no muss, no fuss. Just shake the pan a little till the sugar carmelizes, then pour the flan mixture on top and bake. I'll bet you can do it with any flan.