And what's the deal with my title - "Flan and Meringues"? Well, flan uses 10 egg yolks. I HATE wasting food. So, what are you supposed to do with all the egg whites? You could freeze them in a baggie (I do that all the time), or better yet, why not make Meringues? They are sooo yummy and so easy and you get so messy (FUN and delicious messy) while you're making them. AND, if you keep them in an airtight container, they last FOREVER. So, I'll post the recipe below. I used a decorating tip (you can use a cookie press, too) and they came out looking perfect - just like the ones from Trader Joe's. This picture is NOT of my meringues (actually, mine looked even MORE perfect...yes, I'm bragging).Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the flan either, so you'll have to imagine it. Or look it up online - there must be a thousand pictures out there. I promise to be better in the future about taking pictures of my creations.
I had never made custard before, so this was definitely a new adventure for me. All in all, it turned out well. I don't really get the part where you turn the custard out onto a dish and a bunch of VERY hard, carmelized sugar remains in the baking dish. I mean, a nice amount comes out and drips down the sides of the custard, but still.... a lot of it just stays in the dish. In fact, I had a heck of a time trying to figure out how to get it out. You can't break it with a knife (it's THAT hard). You can't really hit it with a hammer (it's in a ceramic dish, mind you). But what did end up working like a charm for this clean-up job was very hot water. My tap, fortunately, produces REALLY hot, steaming water. I just ran that in the dish for a minute or so and it re-melted and washed away all that sticky caramel. If you don't have really hot tap water, I'm not sure what to tell you. Letting boiled water sit in the dish might work, but it has to be repeated several times (boil, soak, rinse, etc). Not sure why that is. But the running hot water definitely worked like a charm.
WHY am I even talking this much about cleanup when you haven't even had a chance to enjoy the product. I gave some to my neighbors (one of whom is hispanic) and they said it was the best flan they had ever had - ANYWHERE! By far. I'm not bragging (I didn't invent it, after all). But I'm just saying - this is really, really good and your PEOPLE (friends, family, neighbors) will love it. Next time, maybe the enchiladas recipe...how's that sound? But for now...here's the flan -
Flan
INGREDIENTS:
10 egg yolks
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 to 1/2 cups sugar
(maybe 1 tsp vanilla if you want) (I did add vanilla and it was great)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. You will need 6 ramekins or other specialty flan cook ware and a large baking pan to put them in.
2. Pour sugar in warm pan over medium heat. (Be REALLY careful with the heat here. It's a fine line between carmelized sugar and burnt sugar. In fact, mine was a tiny bit bitter, which means it was a bit burnt. It still tasted great, but it could easily have been ruined. Keep the heat fairly low - better safe than sorry). Don’t stir sugar, but swirl sugar around until it browns and becomes caramel. (The point of not stirring the sugar has to do with the fact that you don't want to stir the non-melted sugar (like some that may be stuck on the side of the pan) into the melted sugar. I guess it throws off the whole process. Let it melt together as it naturally wants to - don't force it. Frankly, I think I stirred it a bit toward the end, and it was fine - just be aware). Quickly pour approximately 2-3 tablespoons of caramel in each ramekin, tilting it to swirl the caramel around the sides. Reheat caramel if it starts to harden (other recipes say to let the caramel harden in the bottom of the ramekins before pouring the custard in. I say it doesn't matter. It will melt when it's cooking anyway).
3. Whisk together the yolks, condensed milk, and evaporated milk (and vanilla if you want); set aside.
4. Pour custard into caramel lined ramekins. Place ramekins in a large glass or ceramic baking dish and fill with about 1-2 inches of hot water. Bake for 45 minutes in the water bath and check with a knife just to the side of the center. If knife comes out clean, it's ready.
5. Remove and let cool. Let each ramekin cool in refrigerator for 1 hour (this is a little tricky. You HAVE to wait for the custard to harden. But don't wait forever, because the caramel sauce has to still be a liquid. Some of mine took longer than an hour. Like I said, the custard HAS to be set (that's not optional), so that should be your guide as to when to turn the custard out on to a plate. Also, I found that it helps to run a sharp knife around the outside edge of the custard before you turn it over - it comes out smoothly). Invert each ramekin onto a small plate, the caramel sauce will flow over the custard.
Authentic French Meringues
(I did this recipe times 2 1/2, so I could use up my 10 egg whites. You will need at least 2 LARGE baking sheets to fit all the meringues this makes)
INGREDIENTS:
4 egg whites
2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
DIRECTIONS: (Please read all the tips at the bottom first - they really help).
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C). Butter and flour a baking sheet (for this particular recipe, I really did butter and flour the baking sheets, as opposed to using PAM. I figured that since egg whites are so delicate and have little flavor of their own, they would probably pick up the flavor of the PAM, which I wouldn't want. Now, butter, on the other hand, tastes great, so that was my choice.)
In a glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy using an electric mixer. Sprinkle in sugar a little at a time, while continuing to whip at medium speed. When the mixture becomes stiff and shiny like satin, stop mixing, and transfer the mixture to a large pastry bag. Pipe the meringue out onto the prepared baking sheet using a large round tip or star tip. (If you don't have a fancy thing to pipe out the meringue, just use a spoon and make a dollop (AKA "a plop") on the baking sheet).
Place the meringues in the oven and place a wooden spoon handle in the door to keep it from closing all the way. Bake for 3 hours, or until the meringues are dry, and can easily be removed from the pan. (it only took me just a little over 2 hours - check once in a while and taste one to see if it's done to your liking - this is pretty loose, since they'll either be dry, or dryer. That's the nature of a meringue. You can't over dry them, I don't think. But I suppose you could burn the bottoms, so that' a good reason to check on them after a couple of hours. If the bottoms are getting brown, they're either done or your oven's too hot). Allow cookies to cool completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature.
EGG WHITE TIPS:
1. Use a clean, dry bowl. The bowl must be grease-free, because any trace amount of fat will wreck a meringue. Glass, ceramic, stainless steel, and copper bowls are all suitable. Plastic bowls may appear clean, but may still have trace amounts of oil, so do not use them.
2. Cold eggs separate easily, but eggs whip to a higher volume when at room temperature. The solution is to separate the cold eggs, and then set them aside for 10 or 15 minutes.
3. Separate each egg into two small bowls, one for the white and one for the yolk, and then add the white portion to the larger bowl. This allows you to reserve any with broken yolks for another purpose. Even a small amount of yolk can deflate the egg whites, so be careful.
TIPS For A Basic Meringue:
Cream of tartar, white vinegar, or lemon juice can all be used to stabilize a meringue.
1. Add 1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar per egg white to the unbeaten eggs. (If you're using a copper bowl to make your meringue, don't add any acid: it can react with the copper and discolor the egg foam.) (I used a dash of lemon juice - just a small dash (maybe a Tbsp) - it worked well and I knew that even if a little tiny bit of lemon flavor remained in the finished product, it wouldn't bother me. As it turns out, no lemon flavor remained - it was just pure sugar!)
2. Whip to medium-soft peaks. Beat in 2 tablespoons white sugar per egg white. Continue to beat until egg whites are glossy and hold a firm peak.
3. Adding sugar early in the beating process results in a firmer, finer-textured meringue.
No comments:
Post a Comment