Parisian flan Traditional recipe and advice

Parisian flan or pastry flan with a creamy, melting texture and an intense vanilla taste. There’s nothing like an old-fashioned dessert for pure indulgence.

Parisian flan is one of those desserts that you buy on impulse in a bakery because it is so popular on the shelves. Ultra comforting with its texture that is both firm and creamy, the supple and golden top, and all those vanilla beans that you discover when cutting. I’m cracking up!

But have you ever made a homemade flan? I admit it can be scary but ultimately it’s quite easy. I delved into the latest book 100% dedicated to flans by chef Ju Chamalo to give you all the advice for making the real Parisian flan recipe, which you can make into a pastry flan without dough. This recipe reminds me a bit of grandma’s old-fashioned way of making it (apart from the optional step of cooling the dough of course).

But before sharing the tips and tricks with you, a ritual on this blog when I tackle a traditional French cuisine recipe is to delve into the origin and history of this dessert.

Parisian flan or pastry flan?

The pastry flan is an egg cream or inverted with a dough. It is Antoine Carême in his book The Royal Parisian Pastry Chef of 1815 which mentions the Parisian flan for the first time.
But what he describes as Parisian flan is similar to pastry flan. So they are the same pastry. Parisian flan undoubtedly takes its name from the fact that it is the best-selling dessert in the capital’s bakeries.

The Academy of Taste tells us that pastry flan is without dough. And that as soon as a flan has a dough, it is a Parisian flan. As sources often contradict each other, I will continue my research.

Tips for making your flan a success

First the pie crust

What dough for Parisian flan?

Shortcrust pastry, shortcrust pastry, sweet pastry or puff pastryno missteps in terms of traditional recipe. It’s a question of taste, or time. This recipe generally uses shortcrust or puff pastry.

Puff pastry is quite common but takes longer to make, I personally admit that I often hesitate to try out homemade puff pastry. Isn’t it worth better a good homemade shortcrust or shortcrust pastry rather than store-bought puff pastry? No judgment here, do as you wish.

First step, darken the dough

Start by making the pie crustspread it out and place it in your mold. Pour the dough into the mold is complete by positioning thehas dough on the edges which are quite high, either by putting at the bottom a circle of the diameter of your mold and a strip of 4 cm or the thickness of the rim all around. You will then have to gently weld the disc to the strip with your fingers.

Avoid this belt pressing technique for puff pastry which could be poorly sealed.

Once your pie crust is correctly placed in your mold, place it in the freezer while you prepare the flan maker.. This step is optional but gives a better result.

For the flan maker

1. The flan maker designates the mixture of ingredients which will serve as the basis for a preparation.
2. Use ingredients at room temperature.
3. Choose from whole milk and cream with 30% fate.
4. We use an ingredient that will allowthicken the deviceas for a pastry cream. Here cornstarch but pastry chefs often use flan powder more difficult to find commercially.
5. For the eggs, we use medium eggs heres. I’m giving you this indication because in baking, you have to be precise.
   An average egg generally weighs 60 grams. By removing the shell (around 5 gr) we have 55 gr of whole egg including 20 gr of yolk and 35 gr of white.
   However, you can use large eggs, your flan will be a little richer. If you are using small eggs, increase the number or opt for the weighing technique.
6. Be very generous with vanilla.

2. For a plain flanmake the same recipe removing the vanilla. The flan can be made without dough in a well buttered and floured dish.
   For a chocolate versionadd 5 to 10 g of bitter cocoa powder.
3. The device can be prepared the day before and stored in the refrigerator, covered in film, so that a crust does not form on the top.
   It seems that you get a nicer flan with a nice golden coating on top like this. I haven’t been able to make the comparison yet.
4. Pour the flan mixture cold or at room temperature at most onto the dough which has been put in the freezer.
   Variation: Another way to do it that I haven’t yet tested is not to freeze the dough but to place the ready-to-cook flan in the refrigerator for 1 hour before putting it in the oven.
5. For smooth the top of the flan before cookingyou can use either a small pastry spatula, a Maryse, or a tablespoon that you have previously passed under hot water.
6. Cook first at normal temperature, 180°C, then 5 minutes at the end at high temperature, 230°C, to obtain this pretty color on the top.
   We see everything in the recipes in terms of temperature and cooking time, I follow the advice of chef Ju Chamalo by increasing the times a little because I double the quantities.
7. Let it rest well before serving. This time is necessary for the device to set and hold well to the cut. Be patient!
8. On the other hand remove the flan from the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving it so that it is not too cold and you can enjoy a good texture and vanilla aromas.

Hardware side

Sources: We’re going to taste. Recipe and advice inspired by Ju Chamalo in his book “Mes flans pâtissiers” published by Editions de la Martinière.