75 min · Vegetarian · Dessert · For confident cooks
Flan de Café
In German: Espresso-Flan
For 4 servings · US units
Turned-out caramel flan with espresso — silky, cold and bittersweet
This is a flan that properly tastes of espresso: the custard stays silky, and the caramel runs down the sides the moment you turn it out, bringing the bitter edge the coffee asks for. It wants a night in the fridge and comes to the table fridge-cold, which makes it a year-round dessert — after a long lunch just as happily as mid-afternoon with a coffee. Serve a peach and melon salad tossed in lemon juice alongside and a spoonful of custard becomes a whole pudding.
Ingredients
- 2eggsmedium, beaten
- 4egg yolksfor a creamier, firmer set (optional)
- 1¾ ozsugarfor the coffee and egg mixture
- 2⅛ ozSugarfor the caramel in the mould; ready-made liquid caramel as a shortcut
- ¾ cupEspressofreshly brewed or made from instant powder, cooled
- ½ cupmilksoftens the coffee
- 7 ozcreamfor a richer custard (optional)
- 1⅔ tbsprumfor flavour (optional)
- 1 tspvegetable oilfor brushing the moulds (optional)
Method
- For the caramel, heat the sugar with the barest splash of water in a small pan and let it turn golden brown without stirring. Pour the hot caramel straight into four individual moulds or one large pudding or loaf tin, swirl to coat the base and leave it to set. If you're short on time, ready-made liquid caramel does the job.
- If you like, brush the sides above the caramel thinly with neutral vegetable oil once the moulds have cooled — the flan will come away far more easily later.
- Heat the oven to 150–355 °F. Brew the espresso fresh, or dissolve instant coffee powder in hot water, and let it cool a little.
- Stir the eggs with the sugar until the sugar has dissolved, without beating any air into them. For a creamier, firmer set, mix in the extra egg yolks.
- Stir in the cooled coffee along with the milk and, if you're using it, the whipping cream. Add the dark rum if you like.
- Pour the mixture through a fine sieve onto the caramel in the moulds, so no strands of egg are left behind.
- Set the moulds in a deep tin or the roasting pan and pour in hot water until it reaches about one third to two thirds up the sides. Bake in the water bath for 25 minutes to 1 hour — small moulds need considerably less time than one large tin. The flan is ready when the surface is springy and set, with only a slight wobble.
- Lift the moulds out of the water bath, let them cool and chill them, ideally overnight. To serve, run the tip of a knife around the edge, turn the flan out onto a plate and let the caramel run down.
Tips and variations
The quantity fills four individual moulds or one large pudding or loaf tin — baked whole it takes longer, but you can slice it at the table. Made with nothing but coffee, eggs and milk it stays lean and clean; cream and extra yolks make it fuller, and dark rum lends it a deep, rounded note. To finish, scatter over ground almonds, add a spoonful of whipped cream and a sprig of fresh mint, with a peach and melon salad turned briefly in lemon juice on the side.
Allergens
Contains: Eggs, Milk (including lactose)
Not every ingredient in this recipe has been checked, so nothing is promised as free from.
These notes follow from this recipe's ingredient list. Ready-made products and brands may contain further allergens — please check the packaging yourself.
Something not right?
This recipe was put together from independent sources and checked before publishing. Even so, a mistake can slip through — an amount that does not add up, a step that does not work as written. If you spot something, write to us: we will look into it and put it right.
