PARISIAN FLAN
The timeless custard tart .
The flan parisien is a simple custard tart recipe that has been enjoyed in France for a long time. For this recipe you will need some puff or shortcrust pastry and a 18 to 22 cm Tart or pie dish. A cake mould would do too. You can also make the crustless version as seen in video tutorial below.
INGREDIENTS
200 g (7 oz) puff pastry (if making the pastry version)
500 ml (17 fl oz) milk
125 ml (4.2 fl oz) pure cream (heavy cream)
100 g (3.5 oz) egg yolks
1 vanilla pod
120 g (4.2 fl oz) caster sugar
50 g (1.85 oz) cornstarch
PROCEDURE
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until the mix become whitish (a cream-like color). Then add the starch (corn flour) and incorporate into the mix of eggs and sugar.
In a sauce pan on medium to high heat, pour in the milk and cream mix, add the vanilla pod split open (make sure you scrap the beans out and add them too) and bring to the boil.
As soon as the milk reaches boiling point turn the heat off, remove the vanilla pod then pour the milk over the egg mix a little at a time while whisking gently and continuously. Keep on going until all of the milk is incorporated.
Using the same pan you used to cook the milk, pour the mix you just made back into the saucepan. Turn the heat on medium-high and bring to the boil while stirring continuously with a wooden spoon. Very quickly the mix will thicken and start to boil and when it does turn the heat back on low and keep cooking for 5 minutes, while whisking continuously, then turn the heat off.
Well done, you’ve just made a pastry cream. Now pour all of your cream into a clean cold bowl and cover with plastic wrap to the touch (meaning your plastic wrap has to be in contact with the cream to avoid a crust forming on top). Let the cream cool down. You can place it in the fridge to accelerate the process.
If you want to use a crust: Prepare a tart or pie dish by coating it with a little bit of butter then lightly dust it with flour. Then lay down the puff pastry or shortcrust in the tart or pie dish.
Crustless version: Coat your cake tin with butter and cover with parchment paper (as demonstrated in the video)
When ready, remove the cold pastry cream from the fridge and whisk so that it becomes more workable. When done, fill the dish with the pastry cream. Flatten the top with a spatula to make sure the surface is even. Bake the Parisian flan at 170 to 180 °C (338 - 356 °F) for 35 minutes or until a golden crust has formed on top.
The most important tip for a delicious Parisian flan is allowing it to cool before serving. It tastes best when chilled.