Crème caramel is one of my all time favourite dessert that embodies simplicity. At its core, this is a baked custard made with milk, eggs, and sugar with a caramel sauce. It is a versatile canvas that welcomes other flavours ranging from the classic vanilla or coffee to the more exotic lavender or lemongrass. No doubt these flavoured version are tasty in their own way but what if I focus on milk, eggs, and sugar instead?
With the confluence of several lucky coincidence, I came into possession of raw milk, farm fresh duck and chicken eggs, and a huge block of maple cream. Every ingredient is of such high quality that it can elevate a dessert all on its own. When they join forces to create a batch of extra special crème caramel, all I can say is that I’m not sharing any outside of my house. Words cannot describe the perfection of this flan. There is barely enough structural integrity for the pudding to stand on its own once unmolded. Each spoonful trembles in front of my eyes before melting on my tongue into smooth creaminess. The slightly bitter undertone of the caramel highlights the maple sweetness of the custard. Oh and the eggs! And milk! This flan is a celebration of all that is tasty about our farm-fresh goodies.
Raw milk has so much more flavour than their pasteurized counterpart it really makes me sad that its sale is illegal where I live. Duck eggs are highly prized in baking because the additional fat in the yolks and more stable whites give dessert incomparable taste and texture. As for the chicken eggs, I’ve been spoiled for the last year by having a steady supply from my CSA. I cannot imagine going back to factory farmed eggs anymore. The maple cream is a gift from a friend in New Brunswick. I had no idea what to do with this solid block of raw sugar until I decided to attack it with my microplane. 45 minutes of elbow grease later, I reduced the 500g block into a huge pile of light fluffy powder. The finely grated sugar has maple flavour more subtle than maple syrup and without the extra liquid.
I turned to David Lebovitz’s butterscotch flan recipe in Ready For Dessert as guideline. He even encouraged readers to experiment with different sugar other than dark brown sugar in the recipe. Obviously I made crème caramel countless times before yet I learned something new from his recipe. His caramel is made using the wet method. What’s interesting is the addition of more water to loosen the caramel after it’s cooked to amber colour. The extra water ensures the caramel does not harden too quickly and maintains workable viscosity when I pour it into my baking moulds. Other tip he offered is to swirl the caramel sauce up to the side of the mould so the entire interior is coated with a thin layer of caramel. Why did I not think of that before? It makes unmolding the custard so much easier because the caramel sauce prevents direct contact between custard and mould. By using this simple trick, I did not need to mar the sides of the custard by running a thin knife around the pudding to dislodge it. You can see from the photo the smooth and glossy surface of the custard. What a beauty!
With 3 cups of raw milk, 4 duck eggs, 3 chicken egg yolks, and 275g of maple sugar going into my batch of 8 flans, you would think the taste is rich beyond imagination. I can assure you that is not the case. In fact, the lack of cream keeps the custard light and delicate. I cannot think of a better way to highlight the excellent raw ingredients I was lucky enough to work with. I would love to enjoy this dessert on a regular basis or better yet, share it with friends and family. Alas, until I have a reliable supply of raw milk and duck eggs, this dessert may be a fleeting pleasure to be treasured in taste memory.
Fun With Food Styling: Remember that I wrote there’s barely enough structural integrity for the custard to stand on its own? While absolutely delicious to eat, it was a nightmare for my camera! I unmolded 5 puddings into containers offering little support before finding a dish of just the right size. Those 5 all collapsed and slumped into the dish with a sigh. Fortunately, when I found the right dish, the afternoon sunlight hit my kitchen just right and I cannot ask for better! I absolutely love the golden sparkles on my lopsided flan.
