Coffee Cardamom Flans With Orange Crème Fraîche Recipes

ORANGE-COFFEE FLAN

Steps:

• Heat the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it begins to melt. Cook, swirling the pan but not stirring, until deep amber, about 10 minutes. Stir in the orange zest and cook 30 seconds. Pour into a 9-inch-round cake pan; tilt to coat. Let harden, about 10 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Dissolve the espresso powder in 1 tablespoon warm water in a large bowl. Whisk in the eggs. Add the sweetened condensed milk, half-and-half, vanilla, cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon salt; whisk until smooth. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into the cake pan.
• Loosely cover the cake pan with foil (do not let the foil touch the custard). Line a roasting pan with a kitchen towel and set the cake pan on top. Transfer to the oven and fill the roasting pan with hot water, about halfway up the side of the cake pan. Bake until the flan is set but still wobbly in the center, 1 hour, 30 minutes to 1 hour, 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in the water bath, about 1 hour. Remove from the water, cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 8 hours.
• Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the flan; let sit 20 minutes. Invert the flan onto a rimmed plate and unmold, letting the caramel drip out. Cut into wedges.

COFFEE-CARDAMOM FLANS WITH ORANGE CRèME FRAîCHE

Steps:

• Stir 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup water, and corn syrup in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil without stirring until caramel is deep amber color, brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan occasionally, about 7 minutes. Working quickly, pour caramel into eight 3/4-cup custard cups. Tilt and rotate each cup to coat sides and bottom.
• Stir milk, ground coffee, cardamom, and 1/2 cup sugar in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture simmers. Remove pan from heat; let mixture steep 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk egg yolks, whole eggs, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl to blend. Return milk mixture to simmer; gradually whisk into egg mixture. Line sieve with several layers of moistened cheesecloth; strain custard into bowl, then divide among caramel-lined cups. Arrange cups in 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan. Pour enough hot water into baking pan to come halfway up sides of cups. Cover pan loosely with foil.
• Bake flans 20 minutes. Lift foil to allow steam to escape. Replace foil. Bake flans until softly set in center, lifting foil every 10 minutes, about 35 minutes longer. Remove flans from water. Chill flans 4 hours; cover and chill overnight.
• Run knife around flans. Turn out onto plates. Serve with crème fraîche.

CARDAMOM-COFFEE FLAN

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Cook milk, orange zest, cardamom, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp. coffee in saucepan 5 to 7 min. or until sugar is dissolved, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Reserve for later use.
• Meanwhile, cook water, corn syrup and remaining sugar in separate saucepan on medium heat 15 to 20 min. or until mixture is a light amber color, gently swirling pan every few minutes. (Do not stir.) Turn off heat. Add remaining coffee; stir until dissolved. Pour into 9-inch round pan; swirl to evenly coat bottom of pan with sugar mixture. Cool slightly.
• Pour reserved milk mixture through fine-mesh strainer into blender or food processor container. Add cream cheese; blend until smooth. Add eggs; blend well. Carefully pour over syrup in pan.
• Place filled 9-inch pan in larger pan, then place on middle rack in oven. Add enough water to larger pan to come halfway up side of 9-inch pan.
• Bake 48 to 57 min. or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Remove flan from water bath; cool completely.
• Refrigerate flan 4 hours. When ready to serve, place flan pan in larger pan filled with hot tap water. Let stand 2 min. Run knife around edge of pan to loosen flan; unmold onto plate.

COFFEE-CARDAMOM POTS DE CREME

Steps:

• Put the coffee beans and cardamom pods in the work bowl of a food processor and pulse on and off several times to roughly chop -- not grind -- them. Turn the chopped beans and pods into a medium saucepan and add 1/2 cup of the sugar. Put the pan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the sugar starts to melt. Once the sugar has melted, continue to cook, still stirring without stop, until the sugar caramelizes -- you want the color of the caramel to be deep amber, almost mahogany. Now, standing away from the stove so you don't get splattered, slowly pour in 1 cup of the cream and the milk. Don't panic -- the caramel will immediately seize and harden, but it will all smooth out as the liquids warm and the sugar melts again. Bring the mixture to a boil and, when the sugar has melted and everything is smooth again, pull the pan from the heat. Cover the pan (we do this with plastic wrap at the cafe to get a good seal) and allow the mixture to infuse for 20 minutes.
• Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Working in a bowl that's large enough to hold all the ingredients, whisk the yolks and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar together until the mixture is pale and thick. Strain the coffee-cardamom liquid into a measuring cup (discard the beans and pods) and add enough heavy cream to bring the liquid up to 2 cups. Very gradually and very gently -- you don't want to create air bubbles -- whisk the liquid into the egg mixture; skim off the top foam, if there is any.
• Arrange six 4-ounce espresso or custard cups in a small roasting pan, leaving an even amount of space between them, and fill each cup nearly to the top with the custard mixture. Carefully slide the pan into the oven; then, using a pitcher, fill the roasting pan with enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the espresso cups. Cover the pan with plastic wrap (don't worry -- it can stand the heat) and poke two holes in two opposite corners. Bake the custards for about 40 minutes, or until the edges darken ever so slightly and the custards are set but still jiggle a little in the center when you shake them gently.
• Remove the pan from the oven and let the custards sit in the water bath for 10 minutes. Peel off the plastic wrap, lift the cups out of the water, and cool the custards in the refrigerator. (The pots de creme can be prepared a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator; when they are cool, cover them with plastic wrap.)
• To serve: The pots de creme are at their best at room temperature, so remove them from the refrigerator and keep them on the counter for about 20 minutes before serving.
• To drink: A deluxe cream sherry, perhaps a Pedro Ximenez