Flan! Ain't It Gran?

Rosie is in the enviable position of having extra egg yolks awaiting me in the refrigerator. 

Previously, I had made a meringue and berry concoction as my homage to spring.  Hey, we had one day when the temps hovered at 70° and I was feeling... "springy."
It was quite well-received.




















 I used just the whites to make some meringues.  Then I added some berries and whipped cream to it, making a light, lovely, and 'licious dessert.  And that's why I have leftover yolks.



Leftover yolks...  What to do?

My thoughts immediately turned to custard and Rosie's Gran' Flan. 
 





















Rosie's Gran' Flan

4 egg yolks, room temperature

1 egg, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup skim milk

1/2 vanilla bean, scraped

For caramel:

9 TB sugar

6 TB water

Heat oven to 300°.

For the caramel, combine water and sugar in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, without stirring, and simmer until golden.  Working quickly (It helps to have a second set of hands.), pour caramel into ramekins and swirl to coat sides and base.  Place ramekins in 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

I used 4 large (1cup)  ramekins and 1 smaller (1/2 cup) ramekin. 

For the custard, combine cream and skim.  Slice down a vanilla bean and scrape the seeds out into the milk.  Throw in the bean.  Bring to a bubble, not a boil, and remove bean.  

Beat yolks and egg until thickened and lemon-colored.  Gradually beat in sugar until light and foamy.  Slowly pour in hot milk, constantly whisking.  You don't want to scramble the eggs here.

Pour custard mix into ramekins.  Pour boiling water halfway up the sides.  This is officially a bain Marie.  And you should've placed the pan with the ramekins in the oven before pouring boiling water in it.

Bake in 300° oven for 55-60 minutes or until set.

Let cool, run a knife around the outside, and invert onto plate.

And enjoy one of the finest desserts ever invented.

This is about the color of the caramel you want.
Remember, the caramel continues cooking when you take it off the heat, so err on the side of caution.

See the different colors of caramel?
The darker caramel is where I went back and poured more caramel into the ramekins.  The caramel had continued to cook.

Ramekins with caramel are waiting in the background.
My custard ingredients:
 1 1/2 cups cream
 1/2 cup skim milk
 3/4 cup sugar
 4 yolks
 1 egg
1/2 vanilla bean

You want your eggs light and lemony before you start adding the sugar.

Custards ready for the oven.

And here are my happy little custards.
Let cool.

Run a knife around the inside and invert onto plate.
Let the caramel ooze out.
Enjoy!

Can I just tell you how happy my mouth is?
This FEELS so good!

Rosie Makes A Caramel Lime Custard In Blueberry Sauce.

Blueberries have been on sale at Food Lion lately

and the Hawthornes have been taking advantage of this

 bonanza of blueberries.

I'm thinking about how to use that pint o' berries in the fridge

and I'm thinking about a caramel-topped lime custard

with a blueberry sauce.

For the caramel:

1/3 cup sugar

3 TB water

juice of 1/2 lime

Combine sugar, water, and lime juice.

Cook over medium-high heat

until sugar becomes caramel colored,

about 5 minutes.

Working very quickly,

pour the caramel into your ramekins or 9-inch cake pan, 

swirling to coat the bottom.

Set aside while you make the custard.

Keep boiling until you get a nice amber color.

Which this isn't yet.

I probably should have gone a little darker on these.

And I can't swirl and pour and shoot pictures at the same time.

I know.

Excuses.

For the custard:

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup skim milk

3 eggs, room temperature

2 yolks, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out

1 tsp vanilla extract.

juice of 1/2 lime

zest of 1 lime

Combine cream, milk, scraped vanilla seeds, and pod.

Bring mixture just to a boil.

Let vanilla steep while you prepare the rest.

Beat eggs, yolks, vanilla, and sugar.

Add lime juice and zest.

While whisking,

slowly drizzle in the hot cream mixture.

(With vanilla bean removed.)

Continue whisking so eggs do not curdle

and pour the rest of the milk mixture in.

Pour custard mixture into ramekins or 9-inch cake pan.

Place ramekins or cake pan

in another larger pan

and pour hot water halfway up the sides.

Bake in 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes,

or until the top puffs a bit and is golden here and there.

Remove from oven

and transfer ramekins or cake pan to wire rack.

Run a knife between the flan and sides of the pan

to loosen it.

Let come to room temperature on racks,

then refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

When ready to serve,

flip onto serving platter.

Scrape the vanilla beans out and ...

add to milk and cream mixture.

I go ahead and put the bean in too

for extra flavor.

Bring to a boil then set aside.
Let the bean steep.

Whup room-temperature eggs and yolks.

Gradually add in sugar ...

... beating constantly.

Add in vanilla, lime juice, and zest.

Slowly, add in the hot mixture,

beating constantly.

We don't want scrambled eggs,

so take care.

Be sure to get all those vanilla beans in the custard.

Set ramekins in a larger baking dish

and pour hot water halfway up the side.

Ready for the oven.

350 degrees about 35 minutes.

Silky smooth, satiny texture.

But I want more.

I want some Blueberry Love.

So I'm making a blueberry sauce

that you can use in many different ways -

on pancakes, as a jam on toast,

on ice cream,

or as I later did, packed with cream cheese

in a pocket inside some French toast.

Post forthcoming.

Mr. Hawthorne is happy

since I made it with a no-calorie sweetener.

This could easily be canned if you like.

Blueberry Sauce

1 pint blueberries

3/4 cup sugar or sweetener

juice and zest of 1 lime

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup cold water

2 TB cornstarch

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine blueberries, orange juice, and sugar

in a saucepan over medium heat.

Bring to a boil, mashing berries.

Mix cornstarch and cold water

and stir into the blueberries.

Simmer until berry mixture thickens,

3-4 minutes.

Stir in almond extract and cinnamon.

This is the no-calorie sweetener Mr. Hawthorne uses.

Food Lion brand.

Mix blueberries and sugar.

Toss to coat.

Add in the zest of one lime.

Juice of one lime.

About 1/4 cup of orange juice.

Pretty color.

I smashed my berries a bit while bringing the mixture to boil.

Dissolve 2 TB cornstarch in 1/4 cup cold water.

Stir cornstarch slurry into hot mixture.

Cook until thickened.

I like the pretty colors and ...

... the squiggles.

Action shot of almond extract going in.

I used two hands of this much cinnamon.

Action shot of cinnamon.

I love the texture.

I love the flavors.

There's tart.

There's sweet.

There's fruity.

There's orange.

There's lime.

There's a hint of almond.

There's a hint of warm cinnamon.

I loved everything about this.

I think I'll marry it.

Blueberry yumminess.

Yep.

Imonna have to can this stuff.