Flan

Submitted by breezermom

"This recipe is from a collection of recipes gathered by Vincent Price as he traveled the world. This one he collected while visiting Mexico. It was given to him by a Mexican cook of a friend from Cuernavaca. From "A Treasury of Great Recipes" by Mary and Vincent Price. Posted for ZWT5. Cooking time does not include chilling time."

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 6
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 ounces almonds, blanched
• 1 1⁄3 cups condensed milk
• 3⁄4 cup cream
• 3 eggs, whole
• 3 egg yolks

directions

1. Measure 3 tbsp sugar into an 8 inch layer cake pan. Place over heat and stir constantly until the sugar melts and turns a dark caramel color. Let it cool until the caramel hardens.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
3. Put 3 ounces of blanched almonds in a blender. Blend on high speed for 3 seconds. Leave the nuts in the blender container.
4. Add 1 1/3 cups condensed milk, 3/4 cup cream, 3 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks. Stir to mix, then blend on high speed for 8 to 10 seconds.
5. Empty into the caramelized pan, set pan in a larger pan containing about 1/2 inch hot water, and bake for 45 minutes, or until set at 325 degrees.
6. Cool and place in the refrigerator. Do not remove from the pan until the following day.
7. Invert the flan onto a chilled platter -- it should slip out easily.

Reviews

[Deb Geisler]

This is a recipe we've made for more than 20 years, based on the original recipe in the Mary and Vincent Price cookbook (my copy was signed to my mother by himself). Before you make it, however, a note: this is Mexican flan, not Spanish flan.<br/><br/>The difference is that the Mexican style is much more dense, and it is made with sweetened, condensed milk. This gives the recipe the granularity that the other reviewer noted. Spanish flan is a fairly standard egg custard poured into ramekins coated with caramel. It is much lighter, but also more finicky.<br/><br/>I'm of the opinion there is no such thing as bad flan. In this case, the ground almonds float to the top in cooking, mixing with the other ingredients to make a layer that, when the flan is inverted the next day, becomes a tasty crust.<br/><br/>This is a perfect party dessert. Great with berries to garnish. Whipped cream is rather superfluous.

 

[Galley Wench]

So easy to make. Loved the caramel topping, however we did not like the texture; instead of a creamy caramel taste, it was gritty. Will make again, but leave out the almonds; maybe add a little almond extract or Amaretto. The only change I made was to use the entire 14 oz can of condensed milk and it set up just fine!