It feels good to be back. The autumnal equinox today feels like a particularly appropriate time to revive this small recipe/wellness project. Funny how the shifts of seasons bring about a lot of information if we’re willing to receive it. Personally, I’ve found that summertime, as much as I love cooking throughout its waves of warm weather and abundant ingredients, is a tough time for me to hunker down and “write” - or be close to a computer at all to be honest. The heat and humidity feel agitating and makes my focus and creativity frenetic (assuming I’m not alone here?).
Well, thankfully for both of us (hopefully), the past few days of shifting temperatures and that crispness that’s starting to permeate the air has urged my fingers to the keyboard. I find that the sensory elements shifting around in nature also impact what my body’s physical needs are. Wandering through the farmers market this morning heirloom tomatoes intermingled with early winter squash and concord grapes. It’s that strange but magical time of year when everything seems to be happening all at once. Yes, to the final few tomato salads of summer, but also yes to heartier fare and warming flavors. Do y’all feel it too? Well Fed’s next subscriber post will discuss the type of foods that benefit us from a wellness perspective during autumn and how we can aid our bodies and immune systems in adapting to dry, crisp, cool air and interacting with the season — a time of release, clarity and looking inward.
Now for some flan! In the spirit of today’s equinox and the round shape of Monday night’s brilliant Harvest Moon, here’s a recipe for the eggy, custardy dessert that’s bound to be a crowd-pleaser. Full disclosure, I have been on the fence about flan for years now. I’m not sure why I’d raised eyebrows towards it, but the recipe below has finally put all my unfounded concerns to bed, I’m a convert. I will also admit that this is most definitely a riffed recipe—meaning I researched a number of flan recipes and traditional methods and then employed intuition and a few ingredients I already had in my fridge (homemade dulce de leche and husk cherries) to create what I tasted in my imagination. If I had to choose a cooking / eating motto I think it’d be “Let the ingredients guide you.” So that’s what precisely I did.
A brief history of flan: The word flan has origins in Old Germanic “flado” meaning “flat cake” or “offering cake.” Surprisingly (to me) flan dates back to ancient Rome when the Romans domesticated chickens and had a massive surplus of eggs. They developed a savory version of (peppered eel?!) flan as well as a mildly sweet honeyed flan. Eventually the custard made its way to Spain where a caramel topping was added. The Spaniards then brought flan to Latin American and Mexico.
And a brief note about husk cherries: If you’re new to husk cherries, also called ground cherries, they’re a gem of a tiny fruit, golden in color, and from the tomatillo family. They have a papery husk around them and pop in your mouth with notes of pineapple, coconut and tomato. Look out for them at your farmers market.
Coconut Flan with Husk Cherry Compote
Serves 10-12
1 cup dulce de leche (or caramel sauce)*see note & sub-recipe below
1 14 oz can condensed milk
1 cup (8 oz) grass-fed half and half (or 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup heavy cream)
1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
2/3 cup organic sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 3/4 teaspoon paste
1/2-1 cup husk cherry compote / jam *optional, see sub recipe below
Method:
Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a 9” round or square baking pan with cooking spray. Pour the cup of dulce de leche or caramel in to cover the bottom of the pan.
In a small saucepan, warm the can of condensed milk, half and half, coconut milk and salt until just steaming. In a mixing bowl, whisk together whole eggs and yolks, sugar and vanilla. Pour the steaming milk mix slowly into the egg mix while consistently whisking—this tempers the eggs. Pour the entire mixture into the baking dish on top of the bottom dulce / caramel layer.
Cover the pan with aluminum foil and prick it a few times in order to release steam. Place the flan pan inside a second baking pan (that’s empty and slightly larger than the flan pan). Carefully pour water into the empty baking pan so that water comes up the sides of the flan pan halfway to create a water bath. Place pans in the oven and bake about 1 hour 30-40 minutes (rotating 180 degrees halfway through baking process). You’ll be able to tell it’s done when it jiggles ever so slightly but is firm rather than runny.
To serve, gently flip the pan over on a large plate or serving platter. The dulce / caramel will pool over top like a gorgeous golden cloak. Spoon husk cherry compote over top.
*Dulce de leche note: traditionally you make a quick caramel for flan from simply water-sugar. I had homemade dulce de leche on-hand already and thought it’s toasty, coconuty notes would be perfect with the rest of the ingredients so that’s what I rolled with. And that’s also why the flan doesn’t have that traditionally very dark brown caramelized top crust. You could either way and it’ll be excellent. For easy dulce de leche simply submerge a can of condensed milk in a pot of water, covered completely, and simmer for 2.5 hours or so. The milk will turn to golden colored dulce de leche or darker and toastier if you simmer longer. Or if you’re making caramel, simmer 1 cup sugar & 1/4 cup in a heavy saucepan over low-medium heat, swirling it until sugar dissolves and it’s quite dark in color.
*Husk cherry compote note: combine 1 cup cherries (husks discarded) in a small saucepan with 1/3 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, pinch of salt and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla. Simmer on medium-low for 10-15 minutes. For a smoother consistency, blend lightly with a hand blender or in a food processor. Or skip the compote altogether and go straight flan. Still delicious!
*Additional note (for bonus points): I had some leftover dried fig leaves from earlier in the season which I used to infuse into the milks mixture during its initial warming stage. Then strained and rewarmed slightly before whisking into the egg-sugar-vanilla mix. Obviously, I don’t expect you to just have fig leaves lying around in your pantry, but this is an invitation to flavor your flan really in any way your heart desires. Used coffee grinds infused in the milk would be lovely (and extra resourceful) or orange rind and orange blossom water; fresh herbs; melted chocolate, etc.
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