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Almost every member of the RCBH has tasted Elaine Krause's exquisite Flan at our previous functions. On July 20, 2022, Elaine was kind to give a Flan making class at the Hunt house for the Riding Club of Barrington Hills. Three members were able to join the class and make flan during the class with Elaine's instruction and demonstration. Others came to learn, record, and save the experience for posterity. Everyone seemed to enjoy the experience greatly.
Jennifer Drecoll took notes and typed up the recipe to share with everyone:
Flan recipe by Elaine Krause:
1.5 c of white sugar
6 eggs
1 can of Eagle Brand Sweetened condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Ideally you'll need a 2 quart double boiler (insert should be solid not a steamer with holes), it should have a tight lid and it should fit all the way into the bottom part of the double boiler
You should also select a regular size burner to use on the stove (not one of the smaller burners)
This is the double boiler recommended by Elaine:
STEP 1
Put all of your sugar into the top part of the double boiler. Use approximately 1/4 cup of water (you may not use all of it) and start to SWIRL your sugar. You're trying to get all the sugar moist (none should be dry and there shouldn't be any lumps). Once you have the sugar ready (Elaine's kind of looked like a moist blob of sugar), put it right on the burner on medium heat. If your sugar looks too wet, it’s ok, it will just have to cook longer. If it has lumps or doesn’t look moist-enough, keep swirling it.
STEP 2
As your moist sugar mixture is on the burner, it will start to caramelize - this will take approximately 10-15 minutes. Don't take your eyes off of the stove/sugar mixture because you don't want it to burn. You are looking for there to be clear bubbles as it boils and no sugar granules on top. The caramel should look like an amber color and smooth liquid. Elaine says “don’t give up on the caramel unless you burn the sugar because it’s terrible to clean the pan!”
STEP 3
Once the caramel is ready, take it off of the stove and swirl the caramel sauce around the pan (getting it up as high on the pan as possible) so that all the sides are coated. Keep swirling it until the sauce thickens and doesn’t move any longer. Once you have that ready, put it aside and fill the bottom part of your double boiler with enough water to (once heated) satisfy a steam connection between the upper and lower part of the double boiler (about 1/3 to half way up - don’t let it overflow but also don’t let it run dry!). At this point, ONLY put the bottom part of the double boiler on the stove -- warm up the water on High heat.
STEP 4
Whisk your eggs first, then add the condensed milk, then the evaporated milk (always make sure you shake the evaporated milk before pouring it into your mixture). Add the vanilla last into the egg mixture, whisk a bit more, and then pour it into the caramel coated upper part of the double boiler. Lastly, place the upper part of the double boiler on the bottom part (which is already on the stove), put the lid on it, turn the burner down to Medium and try not to touch it for 45 minutes. Periodically you can check on the flan - if you see that the caramel coated sides are starting to come off the side/bend, turn down the heat to low (because that means the caramel is becoming overcooked).
STEP 5
At 45 minutes, check your flan to see if it’s done. Elaine says you should not use a knife to check the flan – it will ruin the consistency. If the top is watery and too jiggly, continue cooking for another 5 minutes. At 50 minutes, check it again – monitor to see whether it still needs more cooking time or not (re-check in 5-10 minute increments). You’re looking for it to release from the sides a bit and for it to have an appropriate amount of jiggly (not watery on top). Once it’s ready, turn off the burner and leave it on the stove for another 10min (max).
STEP 6
Once you’re finished with the stove process, take the upper part of the double boiler and put it (with the flan still in it) into a bowl of ice, and stick it in the fridge to cool. Once it has completely cooled (you can tell by placing your hand on the bottom of the flan pot – if it’s still warm do not flip it to serve yet). The flan MUST be cold in order for it to firm up and be ready to serve.
Flan by Elaine.
Flan by unknown (please email me to give credit to chef ... this looks great!)
Flan by Susan. (Tasting of the Helenowski Flan could not and did not wait until the next morning.)
ENJOY!!!