Flan With Bananas
"This custard is a favorite with children and adults but is a bit time consuming. Recipe source: Bon Appetit (February, 1986). Cook time is both top of stove and in oven"
- Ready In:
- 2hrs
- Ingredients:
- 11
- Serves:
-
6
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 bananas, peeled and chopped
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons brandy (optional)
- 3 cups whipping cream (I used 1 cup whipping cream with 2 cups 2% milk)
- 1 vanilla bean, split
- 8 egg yolks
- 5 tablespoons sugar
- cracked ice
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
directions
- Melt butter in skillet over medium-low heat. Add bananas and 1 tablespoon sugar.
- Mix to coat bananas with butter. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- With the back of a wooden spoon mash bananas against the side of the pan until they are a chunky puree.
- Stir in lemon juice.
- If using brandy,increase the heat to high and add brandy. Cook one minute. Take off heat.
- Put banana puree into six 1-cup custard dishes or ramekins.
- Preheat oven to 300°F.
- In saucepan, bring cream (milk combined with cream or just all milk works fine) and vanilla bean to a boil. Turn off heat and set aside.
- In a double boiler over simmering water, combine yolks and 5 tablespoons sugar, stirring constantly for 15 minutes or until mixture coats back of spoon.
- Mix in vanilla cream and stir until mixture thickens to light cream consistency (5-10 minutes). Remove vanilla bean.
- Spoon custard into dishes over the banana mixture.
- Place dishes in roasting pan. Pour hot water into roasting pan to depth of 1/2 inch.
- Bake custards for 50 - 60 minutes or until set. Check with knife inserted in middle of one custard. Knife will come out clean.
- Remove from pan.
- Cover dishes with plastic wrap and put in refrigerator to cool). (Custards may be prepared one day ahead to this point).
- Preheat broiler.
- Put cracked ice in broiler pan and put custard dishes in pan.
- Sprinkle each custard with 2 teaspoons brown sugar.
- Broil 4 inches from heat until sugar caramelizes--watch carefully--this happens very fast.
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Reviews
-
I loved the flavors in this - the vanilla bean, the bananas, and the crunchy brulee top, so that is what I am rating on (since I think the other part could be tinkered with to work). It didn't set and get thick like a flan, it was very liquidy (even after one night in the frig). I am not sure if it had to do with my changes, though they are pretty common for flan - using the all milk option and two fewer egg yolks. Many flans are cooked at 325 or 350, so that might have played a factor. After 85 minutes at 300, it was still very jiggly, where it should just slightly jiggle when done. This is much more labor intensive than other flan recipes I have made. Also, wasn't so sure about cooking the egg yolks for 15 minutes in the double boiler, they were way past the nappe stage after about 3 minutes. I think with a little tinkering this could be a great recipe, since all the flavors here are delicious.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
<p>I love cooking and trying different foods, but my favorite cookbooks are now Weight Watchers or low fat/low cal cookbooks as I tend to try and make low fat/low cal recipes. I lost over 90 pounds on Weight Watchers and have maintained for over a year now -- so my cooking/eating habits have changed drastically following my weight loss and to keep it off!</p>
