Katie Stewart

Butterscotch Flan

Preparation info

  • Serves

    4–6

    • Difficulty

      Medium

Appears in

top 1000The Times Calendar Cookbook

The Times Calendar Cookbook

By Katie Stewart

Published 1977

  • About

Brown sugar and evaporated milk give the rich butterscotch flavour to this flan. The lemon juice thickens the mixture and on baking it sets to a firm custard. It’s a strange recipe but one that works.

Ingredients

  • 100 g/4 oz shortcrust pastry

    Method

    Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured working surface, and use to line an 18 - cm (7 - in) flan ring or tart tin, preferably one with a loose base. Trim the edges neatly and fill the centre with a piece of crumpled kitchen foil – this helps to keep the centre of the pastry case flat while baking. Place above the centre of a hot oven (220°C., 425°F., Gas Mark 7) and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the foil a few moments before the end of the baking time. Remove the pastry case from the oven and set aside while preparing the filling.

    Pour the evaporated milk into a mixing basin, add the sugar and lemon juice and stir well to mix. Pour into the baked pastry case. Replace in the centre of a moderate oven (180°C., 350°F., Gas Mark 4) and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 15 minutes to set firm. Serve warm or cold with cream.