August 28, 2009

Butternut Squash Flan

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I heard about a layered cake-flan from a Filipino reader of my blog a year ago but have never tried making it. The flan when finished cooking and flipped over is supposed to have a layer of fluffy chiffon cake at the bottom and caramel custard on top. Googling for tips on how to make the cake flan I found the Filipino recipe for Kalabasa (squash) Flan and made that instead. The recipe has 5 ingredients: 1 cup condensed milk, 3 eggs, 2 cups cooked and mashed squash, vanilla extract or key lime juice, and sugar for the caramel. The flan is very easy to put together and bake; I nuked the squash for 3 minutes, then took about 10 minutes to mix together. The finished flan is like pudding but tastes as delicious as a regular flan. Very yummy.

When I saw a very tiny butternut squash at the grocery store I thought it was the perfect size to make into a pumpkin flan. I adapted the recipe by using half-and-half in place of condensed milk, adding a third of a cup of sugar and 2 teaspoons of calamansi juice.


Butternut Squash Flan
2 cups diced and cooked butternut or kabocha squash
1 cup half-and-half
1/3 - ½ cup sugar
3 eggs, slightly beaten
6 tablespoons sugar for caramel
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or calamansi juice
  • Mash the squash and set aside. Caramelize sugar until golden brown and pour evenly on the bottom of a flan mold.
  • In a medium bowl, mix half-and-half, sugar, eggs, and flavoring until thoroughly combined. Stir in mashed squash. Pour into the prepared mold. Bake in a bain-marie in a preheated 350°F oven for 40 minutes to 1 hour, or until set. Refrigerate overnight or for 4 hours before unmolding.

with this dessert you don't have to remind the kids to eat their veggies

7 comments:

caninecologne said...

what a very unique way to use butternut squash! the flan looks so light and fluffy. i liked how you incorporated calamansi juince as well. i bet it tastes marvelous!

Sidney said...

I love flan as a dessert... but never tried such an exotic flan...

Sidney said...

Oh...the book is called...
Masferre -People of the Philippine Cordillera Photographs 1934-1956.

It is a collector's item... I paid a smal fortune for my copy...

Oggi said...

R, I always use calamansi inplace of lime or lemon. I just love its flavor.:)

Sidney, you should ask your cook to make one with the local calabaza, you'll like it. Thanks, re Masferre, I can imagine how expensive it must be. I checked out The Smithsonian Institution and they sell copies of his photos for $50.00 per photo. Yikes!:)

What's Cookin Chicago said...

So creative and I love how you used butternut squash!

Oggi said...

Joelen, thanks. The butternut squash works really well because it's naturally sweet.:)

WendyinKK said...

Oh interesting!
I just got myself a big butternut squash!

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