Cheaty Mini French Vanilla Flans

This is a great recipe when you find yourself with an abundance of milk as I recently did.  Usually I would make my own ricotta, but I felt like a little treat and have had this recipe on standby for a while..

You may like use this recipe to make a large flan also - just use a tin that does not have a removable bottom, as this has no prepared crust.  I used 6 x large remekins.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups plain flour
4 cups (1 liter) milk
4 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup granulated or caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or seeds from 1/2 vanilla pod, or, 1 tsp vanilla extract)


Method:
Preheat your oven to 425 F or 220 C

Sift flour into your mixing bowl, and add your sugar, combine well.

Make a well in the centre of the flour/sugar and add your beaten eggs into the well. beat gently until all combined. (use an electric mixer is you don't have a stand mixer)

Then gradually whilst still beating, add milk, one cup at a time until all combined.  You will want it to be light and frothy, be sure that there is no flour on the sides of your bowl, if so move off with a spatula and beat again until all combined.

Lastly, add the vanilla and whisk through until well combined.

Pour into greased ramekins/flan plan  and place on middle rack of your oven with no obstructions above (they do rise!) and cook for 15-20 minutes (longer for the large flan about 35-40mins) until browned on top.

Cool for a few minutes, then sprinkle with icing (confectioners) sugar or your favourite coulis.

Lovely eaten hot, warm or cold.

So lovely Make it from Scratch Readers: If you've got a fridge full of milk, what do you do with it?

You can find more step-by-step cooking from scratch posts and much more at my blog, Frills in the Hills - the fabulous life of our family of five - the fun, the food and the frugality.