Argentinian Crème Caramel
Ingredients
Flan de Leche
- 230gm raw sugar
- 6 eggs, cracked
- ½ tsp vanilla essence
- 500mls milk
Orange and Mint Salad
- 4 oranges, peel, segment, squeeze out juice from leftover orange flesh and reserve
- 24 fresh mint leaves, finely sliced
- 60ml extra virgin olive oil
Method
Flan de Leche
Pre-heat an oven to 140°C.
Over a moderate heat, in a saucepan, add 140gm the sugar and stir continuously until the sugar has melted and turns to a rich caramel, remove from the heat before it burns and becomes bitter.
Pour the caramel into a 20cm diameter flan tin. Tip the flan tin so that the base and side of the tin are evenly coated in caramel, set the tin to one side and allow the caramel to set.
In a mixing bowl, place the eggs, add the remaining sugar, with a whisk, beat lightly to combine, add the vanilla essence and milk and continue to whisk lightly until thoroughly all the ingredients are thoroughly combined.
Pour the egg mixture into the flan tin on top of the caramel.
Place the flan tin into a deep sided baking tray and pour in enough boiling water to come up to 2/3 of the height of the flan tin. Place the baking tray into the oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the flan is just set – top up the baking dish with boiling water during the cooking process if required. Carefully remove the baking tray/flan tin from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature, cover with cling film and place into a refrigerator overnight to allow to firm up.
Remove flan tin from the refrigerator, place a suitably sized plate on top of the flan tin, invert and carefully remove the tin from the Crème Caramel.
Orange and Mint Salad
In a mixing bowl, add the orange segments, a little of the orange juice and the olive oil.
Gently mix to combine the ingredients. Add the mint and fold through until thoroughly combined.
To serve
Cut the flan into 12 evenly sized slices, place a slice of the flan onto a rectangle plate and place a portion of the orange and mint salad to one side, drizzle excess caramel from the flan onto the plate and serve immediately.
John Hawkesby’s wine recommendation
Dessert Wine
Johanneshof Cellars Vendange Tardive Gewurztraminer 2009