SPANISH ORANGE CREME CARAMEL
The Spanish love the simplicity of a set egg custard or ‘flan’, it is their most popular dessert and variations are to be found in every region. Our version of flan de naranja, orange crème caramel, is a light celebration of the flavour of oranges. We used navel oranges for this recipe, arguably the most important orange from Spain, they are full of juice and are beautiful to eat at this time of year, but you might equally use clementine or blood orange. It can be made ahead of time and works equally well to finish a dinner party, or as a mid-week supper treat. This dessert is a delicate finish to a winter menu, its wobble impressive, its flavour reminiscent of sunshine.
Ingredients
For the creams:
300 ml fresh orange juice
200 g caster sugar
7 large free range egg yolks
1 large free range eggs
For the caramel:
125 g caster sugar
50 ml water
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas mark 6
Make the caramel, put the sugar and the water into a small pan and leave over a very low heat until the sugar has completely dissolved. Turn up the heat and leave to boil rapidly, without stirring until the syrup has turned to a dark caramel. Remove from the heat and quickly pour a little into the base of 4 dariole mounds, coating the bottom of each.
Finely grate the zest of 1 orange, then add to the juice along with the caster sugar and bring to a boil over a low heat, stirring now and then to dissolve the sugar.
Put the egg yolks and the whole eggs into a bowl and whisk together. When the orange juice comes to the boil, simmer rapidly for 2 minutes. Pour over the eggs, stirring constantly, then strain through a fine sieve into a large jug.
Pour the mixture equally into each mould, place in a roasting tin and pour the boiling water around them to come two thirds of the way up the sides of the moulds. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until just set. Remove from the water. Cover and chill well before serving.
