Saturday, June 21, 2008

Cream Cheese & Lemon Flan Is Gourmet Fast Food

Ever had a cheesecake that was too dry or crumbly? Ever had a flan that fell apart and had no texture? Well, leave it to Julia Child to come up with not only a solution to these ghastly culinary mishaps, but create a dessert that is better than either of its original inspirations.

My regular readers know just how much I love Julia and how she is the only chef whose recipes I do not ever alter. This recipe is a fast, easy, sure-winner to add to your repertory. So easy and delicious in fact that I advise you start making this even if you don't usually bake -- yes, I know there are several of you who come here regularly just to drool, because you have told me so. :-)

Use your favorite pastry dough recipe or a high-quality store-bought pastry dough. Pastry dough freezes well and with the invention of food processors became quite easy to make, so I keep a few tart/pie shells in my freezer at all times for impromptu urges to make a tart or other baked goody.

Ingredients for the filling:
4 large eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
The grated rind of 1 lemon (be sure to remove any wax if purchased at a grocery store)
4 tablespoons of lemon juice (or more for a more lemony flavor)
8 ounces (1 package) of cream cheese
4 tablespoons sugar
A pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp. pure, high-quality vanilla extract (remember to beware of the formerly good brands which are now adding corn syrup to their "pure" extracts!)

Ingredients for the decoration:
4-5 tablespoons sugar
4-5 tablespoons chopped walnuts (or your favorite nuts)

Unless you are using an oven stone, prebake your pastry dough following recipe or package directions (or until just beginning to color and pull from the sides). You can use a spring-ring mold, or a tart or pie pan.

Meanwhile, mix all ingredients in your blender or food processor.

Pour into your prebaked pastry dough (to about 1/8" from the top -- do not overfill to prevent spillage while baking) and bake in a 425 F. oven for about 10 minutes or until the filling is set. Lower oven temperature to 350 F. and sprinkle the decoration sugar and nuts over the top. Bake for another 10 minutes at the lower temperature. Your flan is ready when it is slightly browned and puffed.

It can be served warm, at room temperature or even cold.
If you end up with a bit too much for the size pan you picked, just bake the extra filling in a glass pudding cup.

Enjoy!

Visit the other participants for more recipes in the Dairy Edition of Scrumptious Sunday.

13 comments:

  1. Julia Child has always been one of my favorite chefs.

    I posted a recipe for Ben and Jerry's Homemade Cherry Garcia Ice Cream :) YUMMY!

    http://shaycv.blogspot.com/2008/06/scrumptious-sunday-dairy.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm not usually fond of flan, but this does sound scrumptious!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Shannon, don't forget to join my Ice Cream Recipe Round Up in July.

    Thanks, Tamy. It really is. You'll like this one. The combination of cheesecake and flan makes a really great texture.

    I noticed a lot of ice cream recipes for this week's Scrumptious Sunday. You are all invited to participate in my round up. Just add the link and button to your posts and you'll be ready for July 18th. All the details are on the blog if you haven't seen them yet.

    Happy Scrumptious Sunday to all!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bonsoir Joy:
    Je suis en train de faire plusierurs recettes des glaces pour ton event du prochain 18 juillet. J'ai déjà une dans mon blog, mais j'en fairai plus. j'aime bien les glaces. Ton dessert de crème du fromage et citron, est si agrèable. Merci et à bientôt

    ReplyDelete
  5. You sure got my attention with the fast, easy, sure-winner. Sounds like it has a great texture.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This sounds yummy.

    Come on over to my blog. Now I have something for you!

    I just picked up your award today and I will be posting it.

    I know you have been getting a lot of foreign awards, but it would be nice if they were translated so all us English speaking folks know what it says. I would also like to know what languge it is in.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Joy, Your Award is over at 4urpets. I think I signed in as The Empty Nest on my last comment.

    Anyway, go to 4urpets for the Award.

    Kathryn

    ReplyDelete
  8. Bonsoir Tartasacher. Je suis si contente que non seulement tu participes pour le 18 Juillet, mais aussi que tu nous donnes plusieurs de tes merveilleuses recettes. :-)

    Good, Lore. I was trying to get everyone's attention because I really like recipes that taste fantastic, yet are easy for anyone to make.

    Kathy, thank you so much for the award. I'm so happy and lucky to get so many. It is good to be so well liked. So far all of my foreign awards have been in Spanish as I have numerous Spanish readers and Tartasacher is a regular reader who generously shares awards with me.

    I'm glad to know you are interested in the translations. I have been translating them on the posts to the best of my ability using the online translators on my sidebar and my dictionary, but I do not know very much Spanish. I should add the word "translation" in the future to make sure it is clear to everyone. The last one was in a block quote.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I should mention that Cheesecake is my absolute favorite dessert!!! This looks YUMMY!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Boy~you are right -that is an easy recipe. I like the just mix all the ingredients in a food processor-easy as pie for me. LOL! I love cheesecakes/flan too! OK~about the Paul Newman Cake-I have no idea where the name came from. I had to ask her 3 times what the cake was called-lol. I searched the internet and found the recipe. I haven't researched the history though-I thought it was a strange name too! Thanks for visiting!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Beloved Mama, you'll be able to make this one in only about half an hour and it is so good too. You'll love it!

    Mercedes, thank you so much for the information.
    Yes, this recipe IS so easy. I was still a teenager when I discovered it and I was so happy to find something so good, so quick and so simple. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Bonsoir Joy:
    J'ai pour toi un petit cadeau dans mon blog.

    I'm for you a award in my blog
    This is the award "Blog diamond 2.008"
    Thank you, best and whises

    ReplyDelete
  13. Joy: Merci bien par tes belles mots, j'essierai de participer à ton event des glaces avec plusieurs recettes. Merci et à bientôt

    ReplyDelete

Let's build a friendly community. Thank you for leaving a comment. :-)