Crème caramel and flan

Cooking Discussions
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I used a Bittman recipe last night. It was as a bitt of a fail. LOL (due to user error)

My sugar for the caramel (sugar plus a bit of water) didn’t caramelize. It turned into a simple syrup then candy. I added some maple syrup and water to make it a slightly amber syrup, and used that.

I made a rookie mistake of stirring the custard to check its internal temp, once it was between 165 and 175, instead of just poking it, and didn’t realize I was scrambling my custards that were setting. Most recipes say to have the internal temp reach 170 to 175. Mine was hovering at 165-168 for what felt like a long time. I took it out when it finally reached 172 in each ramekin.

I will try again next week.

I’ll try one of the recipes linked here next time.

It tastes okay for scrambled custard.

Bittman custard part: 2 cups milk: 2 eggs and 2 yolks: 1/4 cup sugar: 1 tsp vanilla extract.

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This is one of the desserts I like, but have never tried to make because it seems so fussy. I’ll have to save these recipes and ideas!

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My PIC makes a mean tres leches flan with coconut, a recipe he got from Costa Rican friends.

I should tell him to make it for our next dinner party, as it’s always a hit.

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Sorry to hear!

Below is our basic home recipe for caramel custard (it was made every week when I was a kid, unless it turned into bread pudding because there was too much bread, lol).

If you are afraid of it being “eggy,” you can use more vanilla or steep some lemon or orange zest in the milk first (heat it up, add the zest, let it cool & strain before mixing with eggs etc).

2 eggs
250 ML milk (1 cup)
2-3 tbsp sugar, to taste (this is not very sweet, so if you like your desserts sweeter, then increase to 1/4 cup per 2 eggs)
Vanilla
For caramel – 2-3 tbsp sugar

– Beat eggs, sugar, milk
– Make caramel & pour into bottom of bowl(s) or mold
– Steam stovetop (most often) or bake in a water bath (done when still very slightly jiggly in the middle — never, ever stick anything into it!!!)
– Cool / chill (though some people like it warm too), run a wet, dull knife around, and invert

(You can test it out with 1 egg and then adjust everything from there as I mentioned in my earliest post — richness, sweetness, density, and so on.)

I really like latin-style flan these days, which can be made in a loaf pan and is firm enough to slice to serve. An Argentinian friend makes a lovely one with 8oz of cream cheese for 6 or 7 eggs (she measures things like my mom does, which is to say she does not, haha).

I made a similar flan napolitano with 6 eggs : 1 can each evaporated, condensed, and plain whole milk : 8oz cream cheese. Pati Jinich uses 4 eggs : 1 can each condensed & evaporated milks : 4oz cream cheese but that might be too sweet for me.

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