Saturday, April 17, 2010

Flan Failure

Posted by - Ellebee

It's never a good sign when you tell your guests they don't have to eat the dessert if they don't like it and they actually take you up on that. But, after a bite of the flan I made yesterday, I completely understood. I was so looking forward to making this dessert, especially after reading all of the wonderful posts this month. Sadly, my flan tasted like runny scrambled eggs. (I'd like to add that this made my husband very happy as he loves eggs in any form. He was the only one of us to finish his portion. Many thanks to my neighbors for acting as guinea pigs!)


(Piper with, appropriately, an egg whisk.)

Looking back, there were several red flags. First, the recipe I used called for not only five whole eggs, but five additional egg yolks. Most of the recipes I've read on this site call for only three or four eggs - at most, five, with no additional yolks. I used a recipe from a creme brulee cookbook I've had success with. This recipe also called for milk and cream instead of condensed milk. Second, I forgot to add the vanilla, which might have masked the eggy flavor of this particular flan. Third, the flan never seemed to set up correctly. I baked it for the required 1 hour and 10 minutes, then left it in an additional 10 minutes because it still looked runny. The recipe said it would continue to set up after coming out of the oven, but I don't think that was the case. After some coaxing from my friend Dawn, I did manage to flip it out of the pan with no problem, but it looked kind of sad.



I might post a second take on this recipe this month. I really love flan and would love to get it right. We have some more guests coming up on Thursday, and they might just get Flan 2.0 for dessert!

5 comments:

Rena said...

I'm sorry it didn't come out well but at least Nate has it all to himself. :)

Thank you for always posting a picture of Piper! She's so cute.

Jessica said...

Thank you for sharing your flan experience even if it didn't come out how you wanted it to. It looks like your caramel came out quite lovely though. Good luck on version 2.0! Something I am learning in my fledgling baking adventures is not to give up (a mantra I had to work at this weekend when a cake fell) :-)

Colleen said...

awww. that sucks! give it another shot. if it fails again, just have a "back-up dessert" for your friends (like something store-bought/pre-made)!

Susan said...

If at first you don't succeed...;)

I have mine in the oven right now. I am trying an almond version. My first batch of caramel seized up in the pan. :}

Glad the hubby liked it. :)

Joanne said...

I'm so sorry this didn't work out chica. Working with eggs like this is complicated and even flans I've had in restaurants often come out too eggy. Just know you're not alone!