Flan Pâtissier (French Custard Tart)

Recipe:

Ingredient Notes:

• Flour. Since the dough in this recipe is shortbread, you will need flour that is not strong. Basic all-purpose flour with about 10% protein is fine. Even better is cake flour with 8-9% protein. A stronger bread flour will make the dough stiffer.
• Butter. In this case, it is better to use butter with a fat content of 80% or more. It will make the dough crispier than butter with a lower fat content. The butter should be very cold, but not frozen.
• Milk and cream. The ratio of these products affects the texture of the baked custard: the higher the fat content of the mixture, the more velvety the texture and creamier the flavor. If desired, you can increase the amount of heavy cream and decrease the amount of milk. Another option is to replace the milk and cream mixture entirely with a 10-15% fat half-and-half.
• Egg yolks. The recipe calls for yolks from large eggs. The approximate weight of such a yolk is about 23-25 g. Use these amounts as a guide if your eggs are not large.
  I do not recommend replacing the yolks with whole eggs, as this will make the texture of the finished flan less tender.
• Starch. This recipe uses cornstarch. It has a milder thickening ability than potato starch. Another advantage is the complete absence of foreign flavors in the finished dessert.
  If you are out of options and want to use potato starch, use half as much as cornstarch.
• Vanilla. Natural vanilla gives the most delicate and subtle flavor. If you don’t have it, you can substitute vanilla sugar (1 tablespoon) or vanilla extract (2 teaspoons).
• Sugar. Use ordinary white sugar. The coarseness of the crystals is not important in this case, since the sugar will combine with the hot mixture and dissolve well and quickly in any case.

Let’s start cooking.

Make the dough. Place the flour, salt, sugar and cubed cold butter in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until you get greasy crumbs.

Pour in the water and knead the dough as quickly as possible. Do not knead too long or the butter will melt and the dough will be tough.

Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30-40 minutes.

While the dough cools, make the custard.

Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until white and fluffy. Add the cornstarch and whisk again.

Mix the milk and heavy cream and pour into a saucepan. Cut the vanilla pod in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a knife. Add the seeds and pod to the milk mixture. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Turn off heat, cover and let stand for 10-15 minutes. Then strain.

Pour the hot milk into the egg mixture in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Pour into a clean saucepan.

Place over low heat and cook, stirring constantly with a whisk, until the mixture thickens.

Remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl, and cover the surface of the custard with a plastic bag or plastic wrap to prevent it from forming a crust.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Roll out to a 2-3mm thick layer. Carefully roll the dough on a rolling pin to transfer it to the pan.

Place the dough on the bottom and sides of the pan (it is better to use a springform pan).

Pierce the dough with a fork in several places, put the foil on top and add a load – dry beans or rice work well.

Bake in a preheated oven at 170°C (340°F) for 12-15 minutes.

Take out and remove the foil with the load. Pour the custard into the base and spread it out.

Bake in the oven (do not change the temperature) for about an hour. The top of the flan should be golden brown. Unfortunately, I don’t have an active enough oven, so the top is a bit pale.

Allow to cool completely and serve.

Enjoy!