Flan Patissier (Sweet Custard Tart)

Flan patissier is another favorite of mine from the boulangerie/patisserie in France. I don't recall seeing this in the US but I am sure there must be an equivalent.
I had to make the recipe twice before getting it right. The first time I made it, I misread the recipe which ended in a complete disaster (more on that later in the post).

First thing first, the shortcrust pastry (pâte brisée). Here are the ingredients:

-2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp granulated white sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1/2 to 1/2 cup ice water

In a food processor (I just used a mixing bowl and a pastry blender), place the flour, salt and sugar until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture looks like coarse meal:

Pour 1/4 cup water in a slow and steady stream until the dough just holds together when pinched. Add the remaining water in necessary. Do not process more than 30 seconds.

Turn the dough onto your work surface and gather into a ball.

Divide the dough into two pieces, flatten each portion into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins to one hour before using.
If your dough doesn't look so pretty (mine looked rather ugly!), worry not! When you roll it out, it will be just fine!

For each disk of pastry, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the chilled pastry to fit into a 8 or 9 inch tart pan. Since you are only using one disk, you can freeze the other one, tightly wrapped for up to one month.

To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastry a quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards to get uniform thickness). To make sure it's the right size, take your tart pan, flip it over, and place it on the rolled out pastry. The pastry should be an inch larger than you pan.

Gently lay the pastry in your pan and press into bottoms and sides. Cut out the excess pastry and prick the bottom of the dough to prevent it from puffing as it bakes. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

And now, for the Flan! You will need:

- 4 cups whole milk
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup corn startch
- 2 eggs + 1 yolk
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Keep 1/2 cup of the milk aside. Heat up the rest of the milk with the sugar on medium-high.

While the milk/sugar is heating up, mix the 1/2 cup of milk that you had set aside with the cornstarch, the eggs and the vanilla extract.

When your milk/sugar just starts boiling, gently pour it over the cornstarch/eggs/milk/vanilla mixture while mixing with a whisk.

Put your mixture back into the pan and onto the stovetop on LOW! This is where I meseed up the first time I made this recipe. I didn't set it to low (it was still on high).
Now, you need to stir it gently with a wooden spoon (while on low heat) until it becomes thick. This may take a while (between 5 and 10 minutes). Be patient! Do not stop stirring gently and do not take it off the heat until it has thickened!

When it is thick enough (like in the next picture), pour it into your tart pan and into the oven set at 355 F for 35 to 40 minutes. At the end, you can use the broiler for a minute or so (watch it carefully!) if you'd like the top of your flan to darken.

Let it cool on a cooling rack and then in the fridge until it is completely cooled down.

And just so you see what happened the first time (when I put it on high heat for a few seconds rather than on low heat for 5 to 10 minutes):

It was all hard at the bottom and all liquidy at the top... not at all what a Flan Patissier is supposed to be!

But, perseverance pays off and I ended up with a perfect flan the next time I made it so I am very happy :-)

The shorcrust pastry recipe was adapted from here. The Flan recipe from here.