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Egg Custard - Authentic Flan Recipe Spanish

Flan, or crème caramel, is a typical recipe from Spain. This caramel-topped dessert is famous not only in Spain but throughout the world. There are different variations of this dish, including chocolate flan, coconut flan and more but the traditional flan is yellow and vanilla flavored, served in individual portions or in portions cut from one large molded flan. If you make a big one you can use a wooden skewer stuck into the center of the flan to test when it has finished cooking. If the skewer comes out clean, the flan is done.

Spanish people usually prioritize savory dishes, which is why there are not that many famous Spanish dessert recipes. Flan is different though and homemade flan served with strong coffee is many people's idea of comfort food in Spain. You can get instant flan mixes in Spain; these are made with warm milk and you do not have to bake them.

When cooking the following flan recipe, bear in mind the caramel should develop to an oak color. If it goes mahogany (very dark brown), it might have a bitter flavor. There is another famous dessert in Spain called "pijama" which is made with a flan, some canned peach and pineapple and whipped cream. Pijama is shared out, tapas-style.

Traditional Spanish Flan Recipe

Ingredients -

1 cup light cream
1 cup whole milk
4 eggs
1 split vanilla pod
10 ½ oz white sugar
4 eggs and 2 egg yolks
Vanilla ice cream, to serve
Wafers, to serve

For the Caramel:

6 tablespoons water
1 lb white sugar

Preparation:

Warm 6 custard molds. These should be about 3 inches in diameter. Combine the sugar and half the water to make the caramel. Dissolve them together in a pan over a low heat, stirring until the sugar melts. Turn the heat up and boil the mixture until the caramel goes dark. Add the rest of the water and stir until smooth. Pour half the mixture into the custard molds and reserve the rest. Put the cream, milk and vanilla pod into a pan and bring this mixture to a boil gradually. Take it off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes. Beat the eggs, sugar and egg yolks in a bowl, whisking the mixture until it is smooth. Strain the warm milk into this mixture, whisking it all the time, then let it stand for half an hour. Skim the froth off the surface and let it cool. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Divide the custard between the molds, ensuring they are filled to the brim. Put them on a baking tin and pour some warm water into the tin. Bake for 35 minutes or until they are set. Take the molds out of the baking tin and let them cool, then chill them for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Warm up the remaining caramel until it is pourable. Unmold and serve the flans with ice cream and the remaining caramel.

(Serves 6)

Wine Suggestion:

Wine Suggestion for Flan Recipe Spanish

It can be difficult to find wines to pair with desserts but the perfect wine for flan is dessert sherry. This fortified wine features butterscotch and hazelnut flavors, which are fantastic with flan. Try the Rotta Black Monukka Dessert Sherry from Pasa Robles, California. The intensity of the sherry balances out its high alcohol content.

Flan Recipe Spanish

Photo Description:

This photo shows a traditional Spanish egg flan served with a wafer and a ball of vanilla ice cream. Make double the amount of caramel sauce and you will have enough for the ice cream too. You can either make all the sauce together and then heat up the remaining sauce to melt it over the ice cream or make the sauce in two batches. If you are making the flan a couple of days before serving it, make a fresh batch of caramel for the ice cream. This wonderful dessert is famous is Spain for its smooth texture and rich vanilla flavor.