Flans a la Fleur d’Oranger

 

Instead of the usual Christmas cakes and puddings I wanted to create a dish that could be prepared in a matter of minutes and could be done ahead of time if needed.  Orange blossom water might surprise you in this recipe, but it is very popular in many French recipes.  It is used to flavour crêpes, Madeleines and even chocolate Mousse.  This recipe is a marriage of French and Middle-eastern flavours.  It has a subtle orange flavour, the sweetness of honey and the crunchiness of roasted pistachios.  It is smoothly creamy and floral.   This recipe comes all the way from France and will make a delicious dessert for your Christmas festivities in Australia.  To serve them make a crispy biscuit using filo pastry and icing sugar.  This crispy biscuit melts pleasantly on your tongue and complements the flan.

Ingredients

• 500 ml of full fat milk
• 40 grams rice flour
• 75 grams of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of orange blossom water or 4 tablespoons of arome Fleur d’oranger
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons of honey
• 80 grams of pistachios.  Spread them in a single layer on a baking pan and bake them until they are golden brown.  Remove the skins from the pistachios by placing them on a clean towel and rub them and then chop them finely.

Method

• In a small bowl mix together 300ml of cold milk with the sugar.  Mix well and make sure the sugar has dissolved.
• In a medium sized pan mix together the rice flour and 200 ml of the milk.  Use a whisk to make sure that they are well blended.  Add the milk and sugar mixture.
• Put the pan on a low heat and cook the mixture stirring all the time until the mixture thickens.  Do not let the mixture boil.
• Once the mixture has thickened, take the pan from the fire and add  the orange blossom extract.
• Pour the mixture immediately into the moulds.  Let them cool and refrigerate overnight.
• To serve, pour some honey on each mould and sprinkle each mould with pistachios and cinnamon.
• Serve immediately.  They taste delicious when they are still very cold and the honey has not melted away into the flan.

Filo Pastry Biscuits

Ingredients

• 4 filo pastry sheets
• 4 tablespoon of melted butter
• 4 to 8 tablespoons icing sugar
• pistachios

Method

• Start by melting the butter in the microwave.
• Lay one filo sheet on a baking tray, brush with the melted butter and sprinkle with icing sugar.  Repeat the same process with the remaining sheets and on the last sheet cover the sugar with a sprinkling of pistachio nuts.

• Bake the pastry for 5 to 8 minutes or until it looks golden brown.  Let it cool and then break it with your hands.  These can be messy to handle but are delicious.

 

Tips

• Orange blossom water and arome fleur d’oranger are available in all French supermarkets.  In  Australia and other countries they are usually available in middle-eastern food shops.
• The flavour of this water comes from the orange flowers.  Under no circumstances use orange flavouring extract.  The flavour of this extract comes from the orange zest and the fruit.
• If you cannot find orange blossom water or the arome fleur d’oranger it can be substituted  with almond essence or extract and instead of pistachios you can use almonds to decorate.