Flan

MMMMMMM. FLAN.

That mysterious not quite jello not quite custard Mexican concoction that you either love or hate. Many feel that the consistency with its not quite jello not quite custard feel is what turns them off. Others find that the vanilla sweetness is just DIVINE! I am one of the DIVINE people. I grew up with the crazy jello-custard so is sort of like a comfort food for me. I love the smell and the memories it brings me when I make it.

Did you know that flan dates back to Roman times? The Romans were some of the first to keep domesticated chickens for laying eggs. The Romans, referring to the Greeks knowledge in cooking came up with this custardly concoction we now know as flan. I think it would surprise you at some of the flans they came up with though, for example, eel flan was a popular treat. They also had a sweet flan that was sweetened with honey.

Though the Roman empire fell onto itself, flan survived all Barbarian invasions. When it resurfaced, it was generally a sweet dish. But still the same recipe of mixing cream and eggs was there. The word flan is actually derived from the Latin "flado" meaning flat cake. 

After the fall of Rome, flan resurfaced in Spain as generally a sweet dish. When Christopher Columbus 'concurred' the Americas, he brought a lot of his country of origins recipes and traditions with him. Flan being one of them. Nearly all of Central and South America loves flan in all its forms. It is now most widely associated with Mexico where flan is prepared in all its excellent forms in both rich and poor kitchens!

England went its own way with flan. The English LOVE their pastry, so they developed a type of flan with a pastry bottom. The pastry shell is filled with the custard and often it is mixed with fruits and nuts.

Now, there is some dispute as to how the word FLAN is pronounced. Many rhyme it with 'plan' but if you are going to pronounce it in the correct Spanish it rhymes more with 'faun'.

In my family the recipe for flan is quite simple in ingredients. It uses sweetened condensed milk to sweeten the custard while still sticking to the basics of cream and eggs. My Mexican version is the sweet kind, flavored with vanilla and baked in ramekins in a bain marie. Though flans are not so easy to make they are WELL worth the effort.

Delgado Family Flan

1 cup sugar

6 eggs

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can of whole milk, refilled from the can of sweetened condensed milk

1 Tbs Vanilla

1. Melt sugar in a sauce pan until caramelized. Pour into 6 ramekins. The sugar will solidify and turn completely hard, but don't worry, it will liquefy again after baking and remain that way.
2. In a blender, place eggs, both milks and vanilla. Blend very well. This method is much easier and faster than hand mixing. I have also used a food processor. 
3. Pour egg mixture over the caramelized sugar in the ramekins evenly. 
4. Place a large casserole dish on the oven rack in the oven and fill with about an inch of water. Place ramekins into the dish and gently slide into the oven.
5. Bake at 350°F for one hour, or until center is almost set.

You can decorate it with mint leaves, whipped cream, strawberries, cherries, etc. depending on your taste.

POUND cake

I love waking to the smell of coffee. All I really do is turn on the coffee pot. I have a fabulous hubs who sets everything up for me the night before, so all I really have to do is push the button. :)

This week I had most of the week off. I don't know know why, it just worked out that way. I work in a specialty Italian wine store and this week the manager wanted to take a few extra days, it just so happened they were my days. Worked out great for my baking.

I made a delicious pound cake. Made from an original recipe, using a pound of all the ingredients. It turned out to be a fabulous pound cake! I love breads. I love cakes. My girlish figure is a great example of HOW much I love them. LOL

If you are baking in small tins, you will want cut baking time in half. And always adjust your baking time for the pans you use. You know your pans better than anyone else, so you should be able to adjust accordingly. I particularly like using my stone loaf pan. A lot of my friends have complained about their stones and how they don't like them but if you season them properly and care for them in the correct manner they really make for better dishes.

No my loaf pan is not dirty, just very well seasoned. To season a stone you rub softened butter on all sides and bake at 350°F. for about 20 minutes. Then just clean as directed. For deeper pans such as the loaf stone, muffin stone or bundt cake stones you may need to lightly spray with non-stick baking spray before putting batter in. But if you have never tried baking in a stone I HIGHLY recommend it.

This recipe can be easily halved so that you don't end up with 3 pound cakes and you can also freeze the cake after baking. Whats more you can slice it up and freeze the individual slices so that when you got a hankering for some pound cake all you have to do is thaw out one slice!

Original Pound Cake

2 cups butter, softened
3 cups granulated sugar
6 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup milk

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Grease three 8 x 4 inch loaf pans, then line them with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the flour alternately with the milk, mixing until just incorporated.
3. Pour batter evenly into prepared loaf pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes. (if using a stone loaf pan check after 50 minutes.) or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes come out clean.
4. After removing them from the oven immediately loosen cake edges with a knife. Cool in pan 10 minutes, remove. Remove parchment paper. Cool completely on wire racks.

OUTRAGEOUS Brownies

Its funny how at one point I was SO excited about starting this blog. But some where along the way I lost track of everything, became busy, got a job, yeah, yeah, yeah, excuses excuses. If I would take 15 minutes out of my day and STOP playing www.pogo.com and write out my newest recipe I would keep up just fine with it.
I won't PROMISE to keep up and do a better job because I may lag again. :)
For now, lets get to these brownies.

I really am not a fan of chocolate. I KNOW, I am an oddity. A woman who does not like chocolate, but its true. I did try these brownies when they came out of the oven and again after they were cooled and they were not bad. They are VERY chocolaty, very rich. So for the chocoholics out there these brownies ARE FOR YOU!

Unfortunately, I did not think to photograph these brownies before I cut them up and put them in containers. Just picture a LARGE sheet pan of brownies. You will get a lot of them.

1 pound unsalted butter
1 pound plus 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 extra large eggs
3 Tbsp instant coffee cranules
2 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 1/4  cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, devided
1 Tbsp baking powder
1tsp salt
3 cups chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Butter and flour a 12 x 18 x 1 inch baking sheet.
3. Melt together the butter, 1 pound of chocolate chips and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool slightly.
4. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee granules, vanilla and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.
5. In a medium bowl, sift together 1 cup flour, the baking powder and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. 
6. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. 
7. Pour into the prepared baking sheet.
8. Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Bake for about 15 minutes more. Until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not over bake! Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into squares.

Flouring the chips and walnuts keeps them from sinking to the bottom. Its very important to allow the batter to cool well before adding the chocolate chips, or the chips will melt and ruin the brownies. This recipe can be baked up to a week in advance. If you wrap the brownies in plastic and refrigerate they will keep.