First Flan

We have spent each of our 21 Easters in Massachusetts with various members of the same extended family, local friends who have taken our family under their wing each spring. This year, we decided to contribute two sweet items to the feast: the hot-crossed buns about which Pam wrote last week, and my first flan. I had made flan from an instant mix once before, but this was my first real flan, and both of our dishes qualified as first-time-ever for us.

Our hostess had mentioned that some spicy, Latin-American food would be on the menu, which is what inspired me to seek a flan recipe, and to use "spicy flan" in my online search. In preparing to write this blog, I realized that this brought me to a lavender flan recipe, not for the spiciness of the flan itself, but for the name of the recipe site on which it is found. In any case, it turned out to be an excellent find, though I had to substitute a key ingredient and change the baking method in a substantial way.

First, the substitution: I could not find lavender in either of the forms suggested, so I used cardamom at the same juncture in the instructions. This worked very well, but I am curious enough -- and this flan turned out well enough -- that I will seek out lavender and try this again. I describe my equipment change further below.

I began this recipe with the caramel (a word I really don't know how to pronounce). I opted not to follow the multi-tasking instructions at this point. The 10-minute prep time on this recipe is completely bogus in any case, but I prolonged things by simmering the sugar solution first, and not doing anything else until it had turned a sweet, sticky brown. I did this in part because I only have one suitable saucepan, and in part because I have only two arms, not the six required to do things in the sequence described.

My caramel was much darker than that shown on the recipe page, but I have no regrets. It did, indeed hardened immediately when poured out. And I managed not to burn myself or the dog (who lingers in my kitchen sometimes).

The main part of the flan batter is made in two stages, and this does seem to matter. I did make a minor substitution, one that I make in most of our baking endeavors.

In place of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, I used a standard whisk with a rower attachment.

Pouring the batter onto the caramel was much easier than I expected, the caramel having hardened so quickly.

The main equipment change had to do with ramekins, which are essentially individual, ceramic muffin tins. They come up in recipes every once in a while, but they are one kind of kitchen equipment for which we have not yet taken the plunge. The recipe details the complicated placement of ramekins in a larger pan to ensure very gentle heating of the flan. Instead, I created what was essentially a double pie pan, with warm water and a wet towel between a glass pie pan and a ceramic serving dish.

I added the hot water between layers carefully.

The result: a delicious flan, but one we had to serve pie-style, with the caramel serving as a crust rather than a topping. Our hosts were sufficiently enthused that they are on the lookout for after-market ramekins to get into our kitchen before next Easter.

Hot Cross Buns

My family and I were invited to Easter dinner by my friend Jenny's mother, Jackie, in 1998 (my first Easter as a Bay Stater). Since that time I enjoyed the holiday meal with Jackie every year. Dinner moved from Jackie's house to Jenny's house a few years ago (and I have offered our house for next Easter), nevertheless the tradition remains. Another tradition that started in 1998 is that I would always consider making hot cross buns to share at dinner, but then, after looking at the recipe and figuring in dealing with preparing an Easter basket, going to sunrise service, and my attending "regular" church service as well, it just wasn't going to happen. With my child now grown and living in another city, and the realization that I really didn't have to go to sunrise service I decided to go for it, and make the long awaited bread. The recipe came with my bread machine (see image below), a gift from my mother in 1997. I can't believe the machine still works. I used it a lot when I first received it, but for the last several years it has been used perhaps only once a month. Anyway, the hot cross buns turned out great, and were a big hit a dinner. They were also very big.