first attempt at making a flan with a) fresh fruit puree b) kefir and c) cake. using kefir results in a rich texture halfway between cheesecake and traditional flan. a couple of tweaks should be incorporated into the recipe — more mango, lighter cake batter — but it’s a promising start!
the revised recipe (which i will make at some unknown point in the future) is as follows:
cardamom cake batter
dry ingredients:
1 C + 1t flour (i used spelt because i like the toothiness of the finished product)
1/2 C sugar
2/3 t baking powder
1/2 t cardamom (i used closer to 3/4 t which brought out cardamom’s slight bitterness. i think this adds nicely to the overall complexity of the flavor profile)
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of salt
wet ingredients:
1/4 C oil
1 egg
1/4 C liquid (i used kefir, but you can use orange juice or milk)
1/3 t vanilla
mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then fold together. my batter (perhaps because i used kefir) was a little thick, so i loosened it up with some milk. i believe the right consistency is thicker than pancake batter but still pourable. set batter aside.
mango lassi flan
caramel:
1 C sugar
1 t liquid (water is what i used. i am toying with using a fruit juice next time)
flan:
4 eggs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 C liquid (i would recommend pureeing the flesh of 2 mangos with 1 C kefir and filling out the remaining volume with milk)
1/2 C sugar
place sugar and water in dry pan over low/medium heat. do not stir. allow sugar to melt and become brown. pour into oven warmed baking form (to retain fluidity of caramel) and tilt to coat bottom.
mix the ingredients for flan in with a mixer until batter is smooth (3-4 minutes).
to assemble the dish for baking, pour flan batter into form prepared with caramel. pour cake batter slowly and evenly into dish. it will sink to the bottom.
place baking form in a pan of water. ideally, the water should be at least 1/2″ deep. cover with foil. bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about an hour. test with knife or toothpick.
remove from oven, allow to cool completely, and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours. overnight is better, as it allows the caramel to seep into the flan.
when ready to serve, place baking form in warm water (do not submerge, of course) for a minute to loosen the flan. remove from water, and place inverted serving dish on top of form. then, in one quick motion, turn the whole thing over and slap the form. if everything worked according to plan, when you remove the baking form, your flan will be revealed, caramel sauce dripping lasciviously down the sides. the cake batter will have risen to the top during baking, creating a delicious cake base for the rich, creamy flan.
bom apetite!
