Medieval Meals: Almond Milk Flan

In theory, this should have been a fabulous recipe.

It should have been my favorite.
It is a dessert after all.

But, my stories of how I learned to cook are littered with kitchen failures. The Great November 2011 fire of the Almond Milk Flan was no exception.

Enough of a teaser?

We have here our soon to be infamous cast of characters: almond milk, sugar, salt, rice flour, almond extract (the recipe calls for saffron, a spice that was relatively easy to get in medieval times, but is now extremely expensive. Almond extract is an accepted alternative), and pre-made pie crust.

Seems innocent enough.
Let's keep going.

 Prepare pre-made pie crust for a single-crust 9 inch pan. 

Prick with a fork and place in the oven for 10 minutes at 375 degrees F.

Such a pretty baked pie crust. Put it aside and begin making filling.

In a sauce pan, bring almond milk just to boiling point.

Add sugar and dissolve. Add salt and almond extract.

Everything still seems routine.

Add 1/2 of the hot mixture to rice flour while stirring.
This is more difficult that it seems.

Combine with remaining hot almond milk.

See the white flour chunks? This is where we start to go wrong.

Pour custard mixture into prepared pastry. Bake 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees F, until a light crust appears on surface.

Alright, so see that silver poking out? That, my friends, is a cheap pie pan. 

It also had a hole it. 

Therefore, when I placed it in the oven, not only did some spill onto the side, but unbeknownst to me, there was a steady dripping into the oven.

Cue me opening the oven door to check the flan and getting blasted with black billowing smoke. 

While the flan itself was unscathed, it was shrouded in thick smoke that filled not only the oven but my kitchen, my living room, and got irrevocably into my hair.

I managed to save the flan while my fiance desperately tried dissipate the smoke by opening every window/door in my house, all the while trying to hold back his giggles.

I was less than amused.

However, not all seemed to be lost. 

The Flan had developed a crust!!

 It would be delicious despite adversity!

False. Only the top had a crust.

The bottom stayed the same liquid consistency and I was left with only a top layer of Flan.

Here lies my sad Flan that only has a solid top layer. I tried to spruce it up with some berries but it was no good.

You win some; you lose some.

Flan: 1

Emma: 0

Almond Milk Flan

from: D. Eleanor Scully and Terence Scully, Early French Cookery: Sources, History, Original Recipes and Modern Adaptations (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1995), 281-282.

Ingredients

1 pre-made pie crust

1 cup ground almonds + 1 1/4 cups water OR 1 1/4 cups pre-made almond milk

1 1/2 sugar

pinch salt

pinch saffron OR 1/8 teaspoon high quality almond extract (Saffron is extremely expensive)

1/4 cup rice flour

Garnish:

2 tablespoon blanched sliced almonds or fresh fruit or pomegranate seeds or candied orange peel

Preparation Instructions

Combine almonds and water well (blender may be used). Strain through several layers of of damp muslin or cheesecloth to obtain almond milk. (Skip this step if you are using pre-made almond milk.)

In a sauce pot, bring almond milk just to boiling point.

Add sugar and dissolve. Add salt and saffron (or almond extract).

Add 1/2 of this hot mixture to rice flour, while stirring. Combine with remaining hot almond milk.

Pour custard mixture into prepared pastry. Bake 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees F until a light crust appears on surface.

Sprinkle with sliced almonds and return to oven until almonds are toasted.