ScarlettMaple Flan
August 6th 2008 06:26
About Flan
In British English usage, flan may be various kinds of tart or cake with a sweet or savoury filling, often custard-based. In Spain, Portugal, Latin America, the Philippines, and the US, flan is a cream based dessert similar to crème caramel. In some countries, flan is a caramel and nougat based dessert, often made with white chocolate and nuts. It is sometimes spelt flaan.
About tapioca flour
Tapioca is essentially a flavorless starchy ingredient, or fecula, produced from treated and dried cassava (manioc) root and used in cooking. It is similar to sago and is commonly used to make a milky pudding similar to rice pudding. Purchased tapioca comprises many small white spheres each about 2 mm in diameter (although larger grain sizes are available). These are not seeds, but rather reconstituted processed root. The processing concept is akin to the way that wheat is turned into pasta. These tapioca pearls are made mostly of tapioca starch, which comes from the tapioca, or bitter-cassava plant, Manihot esculenta. In other parts of the world, the bitter-cassava plant may be called "mandioca", "aipim", "macaxeira", "manioca", "boba", or "yuca" and "kappa" in Kerala state of India.
Tapioca starch, sometimes called tapioca flour, is a refined white flour made from the cassava root. It is broadly used as a thickener for sauces, soups and stews. It can also be used in baking. Tapioca starch is very fine, and is often used as a substitute for arrowroot starch and cornstarch. Tapioca starch is gluten-free, and is often added to gluten-free baking as a thickener and binder to make up for the lack of gluten in those recipes.
Tapioca starch is also used in producing alcohol, and a few companies in Asia are using it to produce sorbitol and ethanol.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 8
2 cups maple sugar or natural cane sugar, divided
6 tablespoons water
2 cups 1% vanilla soy milk
1½ cups nonfat egg substitute
¾ cup / 6 oz low-fat silken tofu
2 tablespoons tapioca flour or cornstarch
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 vanilla bean, optional
1. In a heavy saucepan over low heat, cook 1½ cups sugar and water, stirring occasionally, until sugar becomes a golden colour, about 5 minutes.
2. Pour this caramelized sugar into 8 individual custard cups or 1 large soufflé dish.
3. Turn the dish and tilt it so that the sides and bottom of the dish become coated with the caramelized sugar. Set aside.
4. [B]Preheat oven to 350ºF.
5. To prepare a bain marie, fill a shallow baking pan ¼ full of water.
6. To make the custard. In a blender or food processor, combine soy milk, egg substitute, tofu, ½ cup sugar, tapioca flour, vanilla extract and maple syrup. Blend until smooth. If mixture has tiny lumps, pass it through a fine sieve to remove them.
7. If using vanilla bean, split it lengthwise with a sharp knife and scrape out the seeds into the mixture.
8. Pour mixture into prepared custard cups or soufflé dish and place them in the bain marie.
9. Bake in preheated oven until custard is just firm, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and allow to cool before unmolding flans. Do not unmold until ready to use. If necessary, heat a sharp, pointed knife under hot water. Dry the knife and run it around the edges of the flan to loosen before unmolding.
Tips:
If using the vanilla bean, you may save the bean pod to flavour another recipe; store it well-wrapped in the freezer; or put it in a sugar or maple syrup container to add flavour to those ingredients.
**From “The Taste for Living Cookbook” ** and ““Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”**
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