Ñora Pepper Flan

This Spanish flan using the pulp of hydrated dried mild red peppers called ñora is a bit odd but it is quite good with a teensy bit of bite. The flavor as a dessert flan is a combination of chocolate, prunes, and coffee. Ñora pepper is used to flavor Spanish sausages, savory dishes, and Romesco sauce. One of the recipes I found in a Spanish website is flan. Yes, sweet dessert flan. I couldn't find the link to the recipe anymore but I still remember it has no milk just like Flan de Naranja which is in one of my Spanish cookbooks. I followed that recipe substituting the pepper pulp and the soaking water. I believe you can also use the more widely available, cheaper, and also mild ancho dried pepper which has a very similar chocolate-y and prune-y flavor.

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Ube Flan

If you are an ube (purple yam) fanatic like myself, you'll love it in flan. It makes a deliciously smooth and delightful dessert specially with a few pieces of slightly tart fruits like blueberries or strawberries. The recipe is a basic ube flan but you can adjust the amount of eggs without major alteration to the consistency of the flan.

Ube Flan
½ cup sugar for caramel
1 ½ cups ube jam
1 cup water
5 eggs, well beaten
1 can sweetened condensed milk

• Caramelize the sugar and pour into 4 or 5 ramekins or a llanera mold.
  
• In a large bowl, slowly add water into the jam and mix until mixture is smooth and has no visible lumps of ube jam. Add the beaten eggs and milk and mix well. Strain into the prepared ramekins or mold.
  
• Steam in rapidly boiling water or bake in a bain marie at 325°F oven for 1 hour. Refrigerate overnight before unmolding.

Butternut Squash Flan

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

Flan de Naranja

Have you ever had a baked custard (flan) without milk? Well, I haven't until last week when I made 2 kinds for Christmas dinner, one with the usual fresh whole milk and a second one with clementine orange juice. We bought a large carton of Spanish clementines that are not very sweet, some are slightly bitter. I didn't want to throw them away so I have been juicing them and I peeled, sectioned, and marinated a few pieces in red wine. I will slice and cook the remaining pieces in sugar syrup to garnish cakes. The orange custard is surprisingly very good. Although it is not as creamy and smooth as the milk flan, I love that it is very light, refreshing, and citrus-y. Those who are lactose-intolerant will love this milkless custard. I encourage you to bake one recipe and find out for yourself just how yummy it is.

The recipe is adapted from my cookbook THE FOOD OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL by Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz.

Flan de Naranja

½ to ¾ cup sugar for caramel

6 whole eggs

¼ cup sugar

2 cup fresh clementine or navel orange juice, strained

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

6 small ramekins or 1 large flan mold (llanera)

• In a stainless steel skillet, heat the sugar over low heat until golden in color and caramelized. Pour equally among the ramekins. Put ramekins into baking pans with sides that are 2 inches high. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine eggs and sugar and beat with a fork until smooth. Add the orange juice and mix until well combined. Strain using a fine mesh into another bowl preferably with spout and handle. Stir in orange zest. Pour into the prepared ramekins. Fill the baking pans with hot water halfway up the sides of ramekins.
• Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until set. Flan will be slightly wiggly, it will firm up when cooled. Cool for 30 minutes on a rack. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours.