Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Lactose-free "Leche Flan"

Flan is the wildly popular milk custard dessert that is too seldom seen in the U.S. outside of Mexican restaurants.

Wikipedia tells us:

Crème caramel, flan, or caramel custard is a rich custard dessert with a layer of soft caramel on top, as opposed to crème brûlée, which is custard with a hard caramel top.

The dish has spread across Europe and the world. Both 'crème caramel' and 'flan' are French names (from Old German flado 'cake'), but have come to have different meanings in different regions. In Spanish-speaking countries and in North America, 'flan' refers to crème caramel; this was originally a Spanish usage (from Spain, Europe), but the dish is now best-known in the United States in a Latin American context and also in the Philippines.


Photograph by Cary Bass

Therefore this article by Norma O. Chikiamco from the Philippine Daily Inquirer telling us how to make a lactose-free flan shouldn't be at all surprising.

I don't like to copy recipes without explicit permission so you'll have to click over.

And don't get thrown by the call to add "zest of dayap or calamansi." Those are fruits somewhat similar to limes and oranges, respectively. Just substitute whatever fruit zest you have on hand.

No comments:

Post a Comment