Apricot and passion fruit ‘flan
de Queso’ with spiced
roasted pears
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 300F/150c.
2. Place the milk and dried apricots into a small saucepan
and bring to the boil. Then remove from the heat and leave
to rest for 20 minutes to let the apricots soak up some
moisture and become plump.
3. Prepare the passion fruit by scraping out the seeds into
a sieve above a bowl, use a ,metal spoon to scrape the
seeds against the sieve to remove as much of the juice as
possible, discard the seeds and add the juice to the
mixture.
This is a take on a Mexican dessert called "Flan de Queso",
which is a cross between a crème Brule and a crème
caramel. With the addition of cream cheese and whole eggs
rather than egg yolks alone, it is a little lighter in texture.
This version uses dried apricots and a little honey for the
sweetness instead of sugar and the flans are served in the
ramekins instead of turning them out onto a plate.
Ingredients - 4-6 servings
For the flan
120ml full fat milk
240ml double cream
100g full fat cream cheese
2 free range eggs
8 large moist dried apricots
1 tbsp honey
One passion fruit
2 tbsp lemon juice
For the roasted pears
2 pears
Pinch ground cinnamon
Pinch ground ginger
1 tbsp unsalted butter
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4. Place all of the ingredients for the flan into a blender
and blitz on full speed for 2 minutes until all of the
ingredients are well combined and smooth, pass this
mixture through a sieve into a jug and then use this to fill 4
ramekins (or 6 ramekins if you want smaller portions).
5. Place the ramekins into a large roasting tray and pour in
enough hot, but not boiling, water to come halfway up their
outsides. (This is called a bain-marie or water bath).
6. Place the bain-marie onto the center shelf of the oven
being careful not to spill any water into the ramekins which
will ruin the flans. (A tip to make life easier is to place the
baking dish with the ramekins halfway into the oven before
adding the water to the dish).
7. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until the custards are just set
but still a bit wobbly in the middle. Remove the ramekins
from the water and set aside to cool to room temperature.
Chill until needed for at least 3 hours but preferably
overnight.
8.
When you are ready to serve the flans, prepare the
roasted pears. Peel, core and slice the pears and place
onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle the pears with the ground
ginger and cinnamon and add the butter. Place into a
preheated oven at 350F/180c for approximately 20
minutes until the pears are soft and the edges are turning
golden brown and caramelized.
9.
Spoon
the
roasted
pears
on
top
of
the
flans
and
serve.
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