Vanilla Bean Flan W Agave Syrup And Caramelized Walnuts Lower Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Heat 1% milk with vanilla bean halves in a small saucepan over moderate heat until hot. Remove from heat, cover, then steep 20 minutes.
• Cook sugar in a 6-inch nonstick skillet over moderately low heat, swirling skillet to help sugar melt evenly, until melted and pale golden. Continue to cook, swirling skillet, until deep caramel, 1 to 2 minutes. Immediately pour into custard cups, tilting cups to coat bottom. Let caramel cool.
• Whisk together whole egg, yolk, condensed milk, and a pinch of salt until smooth. Discard vanilla bean pod from steeped milk and gradually whisk milk into egg mixture.
• Divide custard among cups and bake in a water bath, loosely covered with a sheet of foil, in middle of oven until custard is set but still trembles slightly, 35 to 40 minutes.
• Remove cups from water bath and cool on a rack. Chill, uncovered, at least 2 hours. Unmold flans by running a knife around edges to loosen and inverting onto plates.

Steps:

• Put 1/2 cup of the sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until it begins to melt and turns brown around the edges. Pull the melted sugar around the edges toward the center of the un-melted sugar with a heatproof rubber spatula. Continue cooking, pulling the melted sugar, until all the sugar is melted and the caramel is uniformly dark amber (it should smell caramelly but not burnt), 10 to 12 minutes total. (If you still have undissolved lumps of sugar, stir it off heat until melted.) Pour the caramel into 8-by-2-inch deep cake pan in an even layer, 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep. Let the caramel cool; it will crack as it cools and that's ok.
• Bring the cream, milk and vanilla bean to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat and steep for 30 minutes.
• Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
• Put the eggs, salt and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a blender and puree on low speed until smooth and the sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute.
• Strain the cream mixture into the egg mixture and blend at low speed to combine, discarding any solids. Skim the foam off the top and transfer to the prepared baking dish. Remove any remaining foam from the top and cover the dish tightly with foil.
• Line a roasting pan with a clean kitchen towel; this will keep the baking dish from sliding and it will insulate the flan, preventing it from overcooking. Set the baking dish on a towel and pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it comes halfway up the sides of the baking dish; the flan should not be floating. Bake the flan until it looks set like gelatin(it will wobble when gently shaken), 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, remove the foil and let cool. Cover the dish with plastic and refrigerate until set and cold, at least 3 hours and up to 24.
• When ready to serve, run a paring knife around the edges of the flan to loosen. Invert it onto a platter. Serve cold. The flan can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Unmold and serve.

Steps:

• In a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar begins to melt. Using a pastry brush dipped in cold water, wash down the sides of the pan to eliminate sugar crystals. Cook, without stirring, until amber brown, about 25 minutes., Quickly pour into an ungreased 9-in. round baking pan, tilting to coat bottom of pan. Place pan in a large baking pan; let stand for 10 minutes., Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325°. In a blender, combine eggs, condensed milk, evaporated milk, and vanilla. Cover and process 1 minute or until well blended. Slowly pour into prepared baking pan., Add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan. Bake, uncovered, 35-40 minutes or until center is just set (mixture will jiggle). Remove baking pan from water bath; cool 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate overnight., To serve flan, run a knife around edge of pan; quickly invert onto a rimmed serving dish.

Steps:

• 1. To prepare the flan, place the maple syrup in a large, heavy saucepan. Set it over low heat and let simmer until the syrup is reduced by a quarter (to 3/4 cup), 15 to 20 minutes.
• 2. Add the cream to the syrup and stir until mixture is smooth and comes back to a simmer.
• 3. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Add a little of the hot maple cream into the eggs to warm them, whisking constantly to keep the yolks from curdling. Pour the mixture into the saucepan, whisking the cream constantly. Strain the mixture into a bowl, stir in the salt, and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 5 days.
• 4. Preheat oven to 300°F. Place 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat, then add the sugar and corn syrup. Raise the heat to high and cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until the mixture becomes a dark amber caramel, 7 to 10 minutes. Immediately pour the caramel into an 8-inch round nonstick cake pan, tilting to make sure the sides are well coated. Work quickly so the caramel doesn't harden. If it does, rewarm it over low heat.
• 5. Pour the maple custard into the caramel-coated cake pan. Place it in a baking pan and carefully move it to the oven rack. Pour enough very hot water into the baking pan to reach two thirds of the way up the side of the cake pan. Cover the baking pan with foil and prick all over with a fork. Bake the flan for about 1 hour, then lift off a corner of the foil to vent the steam. Re-cover the pan and continue to bake until the flan is set around the edges but still slightly jiggly in the center, about 45 minutes longer. Remove the flan from the baking pan and transfer to a rack. Let cool at room temperature, then cover and refrigerate overnight.
• 6. To prepare the walnut crust, preheat oven to 350°F. Spread the nuts out on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven, stirring once or twice, until they smell nutty, about 10 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool.
• 7. Using a food processor, pulse the walnuts until they are finely ground, then reserve. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and confectioners' sugar until combined, about 1 minute. Beat in the egg. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour, walnuts, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in 2 batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. Mix until the dough just holds together. Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap and form it into a disk. Wrap it and chill for at least 1 hour, until firm.
• 8. Preheat oven to 325°F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick into a 12-inch round. Fit the dough into a 9-inch quiche pan. Trim away any excess dough, then use a fork to prick the crust all over. Bake the tart crust until it's pale golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool. (The tart shell can be made 8 hours ahead and kept at room temperature or frozen.)
• 9. To unmold the flan, run a small knife around the sides of the cake pan, then invert the flan into the baked tart shell. Serve with whipped crème fraîche, if desired.
• Variation
• For individual flans without crust, divide the caramel and then the maple custard evenly among eight 4-ounce glass or ceramic ramekins. Bake as directed for 1 hour and 30 minutes, venting the steam after 45 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F; put a kettle of water on to heat for the water bath.
• To prepare flans: Put 2 teaspoons agave syrup in the bottom of each of six 6- to 8-ounce straight-sided ovenproof ramekins. Refrigerate the ramekins for 15 minutes to thicken the syrup.
• Meanwhile, pour milk into a medium saucepan. Split vanilla bean and, with the tip of a sharp knife, scrape all the black paste inside into the milk. Add the pod. (Or add vanilla extract to the milk.) Heat over medium heat until the milk is very hot and bubbles form around the edges of the pan, but do not allow it to boil. Remove from the heat, mix in Benefiber and let stand for 5 minutes.
• Whisk eggs, egg yolks and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Slowly add 1 cup of the hot milk, whisking constantly as you pour. Whisk in the rest of the hot milk a little at a time.
• Strain the custard back into the pan through a sieve; carefully skim off any foam. Divide the custard among the prepared ramekins. Place the ramekins in a large baking pan. Carefully pour 1 inch of boiling water into the pan, being careful not to splash water into the custard. Cover the pan with foil.
• Bake until the custards no longer jiggle in the center, 25 to 35 minutes (depending on the size of the ramekin). Carefully remove the foil and let the flans cool in the water bath for 1 hour. Cover the ramekins and transfer to the refrigerator until chilled, about 1 hour.
• To prepare walnuts: Reduce oven temperature to 300°F; lightly coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
• Toss walnuts with agave syrup and brown sugar until evenly coated. Spread in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned, 6 to 10 minutes, checking frequently. Spread out on wax paper to cool.
• To serve, run a knife around the edge of each ramekin and invert onto a plate. Top each flan with about 1 tablespoon of the walnuts.