- Looking for a great Cuban cookbook?
- "Three Guys From Miami Celebrate Cuban" and "Three Guys From Miami Cook Cuban"
Glenn Lindgren: But very easy to make. In fact, we have simplified this recipe over the years to make it as easy as possble.
Jorge Castillo: Even a 10-yearold can do a good job with this recipe! Your guests will think you worked all afternoon on this delicious treat!
Glenn Lindgren: The only tricky part is melting the sugar. Many recipes suggest adding water to the sugar, but this is not necessary.
Jorge Castillo: There's plenty of water in that "dry" sugar!
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Use a soufflé or baking dish about five-cup capacity. You can also use individual ovenproof custard cups. Carefully remove the outer rind from a lemon. Don’t cut too deep or you’ll cut into the pulp! You just want the outer, mostly yellow layer!
Scald the milk by bringing it quickly to a boil with the lemon rind and cinnamon stick stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let stand for 15 minutes. Remove lemon rind and cinnamon stick after the milk cools.
Caramel:
Heat 3/4 cup sugar in the bottom of a metallic pan at medium-high heat until it begins to melt. Stir constantly to prevent burning!
The sugar will turn to a thick syrup with a light brown color. Quickly remove from heat and pour into your flan dish or into each one of your individual custard cups. Tilt back and forth to cover the bottom and sides of the dish. The syrup will harden as it cools to form a thick shell. During the baking process, this shell magically transforms itself into a delicious dark caramel syrup.
Custard:
Beat the eggs with the sugar until thoroughly mixed and frothy; stir in the warm milk and the cream. Pour into the caramel lined dish (or dishes) and set it into a water bath (Baño de Maria).
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes (reduce time if you use a shallower, or individual dishes) or until knife comes out of center clean. Let cool in dish.
Before serving, loosen sides with a knife and flip onto a platter with a rim. Be sure to spoon plenty of the syrup over each serving.
You may also serve in the individual custard cups if you used them!
Serves 8
- 1 cup milk
- Pared rind of 1 lemon
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 8 whole eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups heavy cream
- Pared rind of 1 lemon
For caramel:
- 3/4 cup sugar
- Recipe and editorial content from the book: "Three Guys From Miami Cook Cuban"
- Gibbs Smith Publisher, Copyright 2004
- All Rights Reserved. No copying or commercial duplication without written permission and proper attribution.
- Gibbs Smith Publisher, Copyright 2004
Coconut and Rum Flan
Jorge Castillo: As a group, the 3 Guys From Miami eat a lot of flan.
Glenn Lindgren: We have to do it -- it's research for our website.
Raúl Musibay: At least that's what we tell our wives when they complain that we are getting too fat!
Jorge Castillo: We always look for variety in the flans we eat.
Glenn Lindgren: Coconut is always a fantastic addition to flan, and this recipe includes a good measure of rum for a great flavor combination
- 1-1/2 cup sugar
- 5 large egg yolks
- 3 large whole eggs
- 1-3/4 cups coconut milk
- 1 cup milk
- 3 tablespoons dark rum
- 5 large egg yolks
Pre-heat oven to 325°F
Have ready a 9-inch round glass pie dish. Place a clean kitchen towel in bottom of shallow baking pan large enough to hold the pie dish. Fill the baking pan with enough boiling water to come halfway up sides of dish. Transfer baking pan to oven.
Place 3/4 cup sugar in a heavy-bottomed, medium skillet. Place over medium-high heat; cook until sugar begins to melt, swirling pan. Cook until melted and medium-dark brown, about five minutes. Remove from heat. QUICKLY pour caramelized sugar into pie dish. Swirl dish until sugar evenly coats bottom; let cool.
In a large bowl, whisk together remaining 3/4 sugar, salt, egg yolks, and whole eggs until combined. Add milk, coconut milk, and rum, whisk thoroughly. Pour mixture into pie dish. Transfer to hot-water bath in oven.
Bake 45-50 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. The refrigerate at least 4 hours. When ready to serve, run a knife between flan and pie dish. Place a serving dish on top of flan and invert. Slice, and garnish with any remaining syrup.
