The first thing I usually hear when I make a flan (after the ubiquitous eye-roll) is “not that jiggly stuff, I hope”. Well, I can assure you that this flan is not your average flan and it is definitely far from “jiggly”.
I discovered this recipe when my partner, Jerry, took me to a work party at a co-worker’s house one summer. Her family is puerto rican and her dad made the most beautiful dessert that I had ever laid my eyes on. Upon inquiring what it was, I was told “It’s puerto rican flan. Takes my dad hours to prepare. You will love it!” Well, love is much too mild a word for what I felt after tasting this flan. It was sweet from the caramel, dense and smooth, perfectly flavored with vanilla, with an almost cake like crust that comes from almonds. Simply put, it was heaven on earth. My goal was to get this recipe. Hours to make? Hey, I LOVE a challenge. After several attempts, an agreement was reached: my pumpkin cheesecake recipe for her father’s flan.
Each time I make this dessert (which, by the way, doesn’t really take hours unless you take into account the agonizing hours spent waiting for it to cool before you can eat it), the beneficiaries are skeptical-I guess not all the world is a flan lover. They usually change their tune dramatically when they taste this; in fact, if you like cheese cake you might like this more. I can honestly say, I’ve never seen or tasted one quite like it.
The recipe is pretty simple but you do need a little hardware. If you don’t have a double boiler you will have to get one. Jerry bought me one when I got the recipe and I use it just for this dessert. It’s one of those recipes that works every, single time.
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar (split 1/2 and 1/2)
1/2 cup ground almonds or almond meal
10 saltines or 15 mini club crackers ground up
8 large eggs
1 large can evaporated milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp of good vanilla (not the fake stuff…NEVER the fake stuff)
4 Tbsp of melted butter
oven to 325
1. In the top of the double boiler put 1/2 cup of sugar with 4 Tbsp of
water and cook on stuff until it’s medium to dark brown then remove to
cool
2. In a large bowl, mix the eggs with a fork, no whisking here.
3. add in the two cans of milk, then fill the evaporated milk 1/4 with
water and add to the egg mixture. Mix with fork until well blended.
4. In a separate bowl, mix the almond meal, cracker meal, and remaining 1/2 cup of sugar until blended.
5. Mix the dry into the wet ingredients, add the melted butter and vanilla. Stir with fork to combine.
6. pour onto hardened sugar in top of double boiler and set over bottom half which should be filled 1/3 with boiling water.
7. Bake in oven with NO LID for 1 hour exactly (I’ve used both
convection bake and regular with no difference in result or time)
8. Remove top pan with flan and cool on wire rack until room temp. then refrigerate. Best if you do this overnight, but a 6 hour window will work well.
9. Run a thin knife around the edge of the flan being sure to reach the bottom.
10. Heat the bottom of the pan on the stove gently for no more than two minutes (this will loosen the caramel so that you get the most out of it)
11. Place your rimmed serving dish upside down on top of pan and invert. You might need to tap, but you should feel and hear it drop. It will look like the one below.
My friend Geroge, to whom I credit this picture, would probably choose this at each visit over every other dessert. Enjoy this and let me know how much you and your guests love it!
It's Not Just About the Food... 