Parisian Flan

Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes plus chilling 

Servings 8

Ingredients

1 x 375g store bought sweet shortcrust pastry

90g caster sugar

40g cornflour

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

2 whole eggs and 3 egg yolk

500ml full cream milk

Method

To make the custard, add the sugar, cornflour, vanilla and eggs to the bowl of the i-CompanionXL with the beater attachment. Manually launch Speed 6 for 1 minute. After 30 seconds, pour in the milk. Once the timer has stopped, Launch Speed 5 at 90°C for 15 minutes. Pour the custard into a bowl, cover with cling film and chill for 4 hours (this can be made the day before). Once chilled, return the custard back to the with the ultrablade attached. Pulse until smooth.

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line the base of a 20 cm flan tin with baking paper. Roll the pastry out so it is at least 3 cm wider than time. Line the tin and trim excess pastry. Prick base with a fork. Cover pastry with a sheet of baking paper and fill with dried beans or baking beans. Blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove beans and bake for a further 10 minutes. Remove and cool a little.

Turn the oven down to 160°C. Spread the custard into the flan shell. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes.

Remove and turn the oven to grill. Cover the pastry with a foil collar and return to the oven to lightly burn custard (alternatively this can be done with a blow torch).  

Remove and cool then chill for a few hours or overnight before serving.