Incredible chocolate flavor, silky texture, not too sweet, syrupy caramel. You can’t really ask more from a flan dessert. And the playful heart shape of the flan is great to share with your loved ones.
Do you prefer to call it crème caramel or flan??
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/2 tsp of salt
1 egg yolks
1/4 cup of sugar for the custard
1/2 cup of milk
1 cup of heavy cream
1/2 cup of sugar for caramel
1/4 cup of cocoa powder
2 tbsp of water
1 tbsp of vanilla extract (optional)
Let’s get started!!
Preheat the oven at 300 degrees F.
Start by boiling some water in a pot for the bain-marie that is going to be use later on. In the meantime, get on with the caramel. In a pan on low heat, add the sugar for the caramel and pour in the two tablespoons of water. Keep a watchful eye on it. When it starts browning, starts swirling the pan around so all the caramel can brown. Do not use a spoon, or anything like that, to mix it with. Pour the caramel in a pan of your choice. I am using a heart shaped pan. Swirl the caramel all over the pan, including the sides.
Set the pan aside and start with the custard. In a pot on low heat, pour in the milk and heavy cream with a 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Warm up the milk, while making sure it doesn’t scorch. While this is happening, starts creaming the eggs. Add sugar to the two eggs and the one egg yolk and whisk them until the eggs become lighter in color and have doubled in volume. Add the cocoa powder and a 1/4 teaspoon of salt and whisk them in.
When the milk is warm enough, gradually and SLOWLY pour it in the egg mixture, while CONSTANTLY whisking the eggs. If you pour all the warm milk at once into the eggs, it will scramble the eggs. When they are done mixing, pour the chocolate mixture into the pan with the caramel.
Pour the bain-marie water in another bigger pan, and have the pan with the custard sit in the hot water. Put it in the oven and bake for one hour at 300 degrees F. When an inserted knife from the middle comes out clean, it means that the flan is ready.
Use a knife to release the sides. Flip the pan on a plate, and the flan and the caramel should come out.
Enjoy
Thank you for your time.