I'm about to make a flan. I've made flan dozens of times before and never have had a problem. But, my confidence has been shaken. The last time I made flan after it had been cooked and removed from the baking pan the sugar had not melted but came out like one big piece of glass. Someone please tell me what went wrong. I'm about to make flan again today and don't want a repeat of the last time.
2007-01-27 23:46:37 · 11 answers · asked by D. 3 in Food & Drink ➔ Cooking & Recipes
This is what I did...what I always do but never had this happen before:
In small saucepan combine 1 cup sugar with 1/2 cup water, stir until sugar dissolves. Boil until sugar begins to turn golden about 10 minutes over medium heat stirring slowly. Quickly pour into pan and quickly pour custard over sugar and bake in second pan filled with water.
2007-01-28 00:43:55 · update #1
I think you just cooked your sugar concoction to long. If it's really a dry (not humid) day when your cooking it, it will help solidify the sugar mixture too. I've made hard tack candy many times and basically how you cook the sugar mixture for the flan is how you cook the hard tack candy mixture and it is supposed to get hard. When you are cooking it and it strings when you pull the spoon out of the cooking sugar mixture, it is at the hard tack stage (where it turns to a piece of glass) You've cooked it too long then.
2007-02-04 16:20:17 · answer #1 · answered by tawfrankfort 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like the sugar may have been left to boil a little too long. Sugar is very sensitive to heat, and a matter of what can be just a few degrees and a few seconds of looking away from the stove can change the properties. If you poured overly hot syrup into a cool ramekin it could harden very quickly. I suggest a slightly less golden syrup, warmed ramekins, warm custard, and an oven water bath that has already been preheated so there is no clash of temperatures to shock the sugar. You can also test the sugar syrup heat by dropping some of it into a glass of room temperature water. If it hardens into a brittle mass, it is too hot; if it stays soft and molten, it should be just right.
2007-02-04 02:17:39 · answer #2 · answered by ConfidentCook 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First you add sugar and water to the pan and swirl over a hot burner to melt the sugar and form the caramel. The pan is then filled with the custard mixture and placed over a pot of boiling water (either in an oven or over a double boiler) where it remains until the custard is set, about 1 hour
2007-01-27 23:55:55 · answer #3 · answered by foodguru 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't forget to GREASE the flan pan, the caramelized sugar will be sticky. You'll also want to make sure you keep the heat on low, otherwise it'll burn. Water and sugar should do the trick, and the mixture is not supposed to be clear, maybe a little milky.
2016-03-29 06:10:33 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well I am a cook at a restaurant, but I have not cooked this. If any thing you try to do does not work... I suggest you mix the sugar in if that won't work then maybe you should spread the sugar out more.
2007-02-04 10:18:55 · answer #5 · answered by anan potter 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sugar mixture was probably cooked a little too long and caused it to re-crystalize while baking.
2007-02-04 02:11:57 · answer #6 · answered by 1dayatatime 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Use powdered sugar not regular sugar
2007-02-04 06:28:51 · answer #7 · answered by fran t 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is very strange. Was it really sugar?
2007-01-27 23:56:28 · answer #8 · answered by QuiteNewHere 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cool.
2007-02-04 09:01:21 · answer #9 · answered by robert m 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
why not icing sugar instead.?
2007-02-04 16:34:05 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋