Flan

Courtesy of Epicurious.com

While often associated with Spanish cuisine, flan is really just a crème caramel. In fact, according to its etymology, the origin of flan is flaon, or “flat,” from the Old French. The word refers to its flat or broad appearance, particularly when baked in one dish rather than in individual ramekins. In South Africa, it’s called a melktert, or milk tart and that’s exactly what it is. At its base, it’s a custard with eggs, milk or cream, vanilla, and sugar. Throughout history, custards can be found to be both sweet and savory. (A quiche is essentially a savory custard base in a pie crust.)

Flan is not to be confused with panna cotta, although very similar. The Italian dessert has a custard base too, but calls for gelatin to solidify it. Both dishes, however, are served cold.

There are a gazillion recipes for flan online. Some even call for condensed or evaporated milk, which I think makes it a little too thick and cloyingly sweet. It’s already got a glaze of caramelized sugar plus another ¾ cup of sugar in the mixture. Then you want to incorporate a sweetened milk too? Overkill, man.

For this one, I went old school and stuck to a tried-and-true source: The Joy of Cooking. It tasted great, but ended up looking like crap. There are a couple of reasons for this. One, the mixture was a little too soft and didn’t set well (as a result of a quick pick-up of one of my daughters and turning the oven off prematurely). Two, I didn’t caramelize the sugar long enough. I was afraid of burning it—which can happen pretty quickly with sugar—so I took it off the heat a little too soon. (I see a pattern here…) The next time, I will allow for a little more set time for the custard and deepen the color of the sugar. But this is a dessert that can be made ahead easily—once, of course, you’ve got the technique down.

Here’s the recipe:

CARAMEL GLAZE:

¾ c. sugar

¼ c. water

CUSTARD:

5 large eggs

¾ c. sugar

⅛ tsp. salt

3 c. milk

¾ tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 325 F degrees.

Place sugar in a heavy saucepan and drizzle water evenly over the top. On medium heat, gently swirl the pan to incorporate sugar and water together and to clarify the mixture. Increase heat to high. Cover pan for a two-minute rolling boil. Uncover and cook until an amber color. Pour caramel into baking dish and swirl up the sides.

Whisk the eggs, sugar, and salt until blended. Heat the milk until steaming. Gradually whisk in the heated milk into the egg mixture until the sugar is dissolved. Add vanilla. Pour into dish. Bake on a rimmed baking sheet with enough water to come about halfway up the sides of the baking dish. Bake for about 1 hour. Refrigerate to set for 4 hours or up to 2 days.

Layer Cake

I tend not to be a dessert person. Not because I lack an immense sweet tooth—au contraire, mon cheri. I just prefer to fit into my pants.

Layer cake is one of those luscious dishes that seem so extravagant. It’s an indulgence. A whole slice of cake is a commitment. It’s not just a macaron or a piece of chocolate you can pop in your mouth and just walk away, no one the wiser. This is a sit-down, look-at-this-I’m-having-dessert kind of thing.

For this recipe, I consulted the Mast Brothers. Former Down Easters-cum-Brooklynites and the “pioneers of bean-to-bar,” these guys are on the top of their game when it comes to all things chocolate. So when making a layer cake, I deferred to the chocolate gods.

I was proud of myself. I followed Ina Garten’s major rule of thumb: always read the whole recipe from start to finish. I get impatient and just jump in sometimes only to realize I missed a step or forgot a pertinent piece of equipment at the very moment I’m stirring something molten.

Yet, I still screwed up. Here’s where I went wrong: I let the sugar caramelize a little too long. It should have been a golden brown and it was just, well, brown. The cake was not quite done when I first tested it, so I let it go for a few more minutes. I should have let it sit. The extra time dried it out. I’ll remember that for next time.

The upside? It looks damn good. A picture-worthy cake if ever there was one.

Here’s the recipe:

CAKE:

6 eggs

2 c. sugar

2 cups cake flour

¾ c. cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

FROSTING:

2 c. sugar

2 c. heavy cream

3 oz. dark chocolate, chopped

Cake:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter two 9” round cake pans. In a large bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer, beat eggs and sugar until thick. Combine flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder in a medium bowl and sift them into egg mixture. Fold them in lightly until mixture is smooth. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes. (Check with cake tester for doneness.) Let cool completely.

Frosting:

Caramelize sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until golden brown. In a separate saucepan, heat heavy cream. Carefully pour over caramelized sugar.  Bring to a boil and dissolve all of the sugar into the cream. Pass caramel sauce through a sieve into a bowl containing the chocolate. Let melt for one minute. Stir in tight circles until emulsified. Spread frosting between each cake layer and on top and sides of cake.