Have you heard of custard cake? I am an absolute fan of French food culture. When I was a kid, I remember the French opening a small shopping center near my house. Everything from France was there, including amazing desserts. This is where I tasted the French custard cake – Flan Pâtissier for the first time. I liked it so much. I know what you’re thinking: What the heck is this Flan Pâtissier? Some call it the Parisian flan. Let me tell you.

What is French Custard cake – Flan Patissier

Flan Patissier is primarily a milk and cream based custard cake. All tho it is really not very rich, but it is moist and creamy. It literally melts in your mouth. The custard used for Flan Pâtissier is Creme Patissiere, a thick and creamy vanilla custard used in many desserts in France. The French make it from vanilla, milk, cream and eggs. If you want it even richer add some butter. The French call it Flan Pâtissier. There’s nothing better than this dessert from my childhood. Just remembering custard cake’s taste makes me feel happy.

Custard cake’s base

I use store-bought puff pastry for the crust, although you could make it with tart dough, if you prefer. Custard cake can be an everyday dessert or a snack as it is for the French. Depending on what brand of puff pastry you buy, you may find yourself faced with a geometry problem: How do you roll a rectangular sheet of pastry into a round? The easiest way to deal with it is to roll the dough into a large square and then cut the dough into a circle.

French food culture

Once my classmate returned from France after her summer vacation and told me about all the cheeses, baguettes, croissants, onion and cheese soups. Wine is everywhere and always. All her impressions of French food left my mouth watering. I listened and wanted to try everything. French cuisine was different in nature from our usual home cooking. Ladies and gentlemen, here’s the recipe for the French custard cake – Flan Pâtissier.

Enjoy!

Step-by-step video on how to make French custard cake:

French custard cake recipe

Chill for 6 h

Servings for 9-12

Ingredients needed for custard cake

3 large free-range eggs

1 cup (180 g) sugar

1 cup + 1/8 (135 g) cornstarch (do not use yellow cornflour, use white cornstarch)

32 oz (1 litre) whole milk

16 oz (500 ml) heavy whipping cream

3 tbsp vanilla extract (you can use vanilla bean or paste)

A pinch of salt

1 sheet of puff pastry (at least 17.63 ounces / 500 grams), preferably all-butter

How to make custard cake

1. Pour milk into the pot. I used vegan oat milk this time. Add a vanilla bean. I’m using crushed vanilla. Keep an eye on it, because the milk can blend over and make a mess. While the milk is heating I’m going to make custard.

2. Add cornstarch, sugar and salt to the mixing bowl and whisk all ingredients together with a hand whisker. Add one egg and whisk with sugar and cornstarch. Then add the other two eggs one by one. It’s a little by little process. Pour the cream and finish the mixture.

3. When the milk has a few bubbles it is ready. Remove the vanilla bean. You don’t wanna pour all the milk into the mixing bowl immediately, because you will make scrambled eggs. It’s a little by little process. Pour a little bit of milk (one soup ladle) to warm the mixture. Do not stop whisking when you add the milk till everything blends well. Otherwise you will cook the eggs. You need to get the eggs used to warmth. One scoop after another slowly and carefully. It will get the eggs use to the heat. After you’ve whisked 5 scoops, you can just pour milk in a steady stram. Just keep whisking.

4. When all blended, this has to go back in the pot. Pour the custard into the pot and continue to cook. The custard should heat on medium heat. Don’t be timid – do whisk. While the custard is cooking you have to whisk it constantly. When you start to see slight traces from the whisk and you’re feeling a bit of resistance it means the custard is getting thicker. When you will see the bubbles you need another minute or so to just keep stirring. It’s finished. Pour the custard into the bowl. Cover it and leave it to cool and thicken.

Baking custard cake

5.  I used a 9½ inches/ 25 cm springform. If you have a smaller springform don’t worry. You will have extra custard left. It’s amazing, cause it is a good dessert or snack. If you wanted to, you could use this filling without baking it in the oven. So, place the ring on a sheet of baking paper sitting on a springform pan base. Butter the springform. Cut the base using the inside of the springform as an example. Next cut the puff pastry to get one 2 in x 31,5 in (5 x 80 cm) lenght strip for the sides. Make sure it is stiff so it doesn’t move when you line the sides. Seal the seams with the back of a teaspoon.

6. Whisk the cooled custard with a hand whisker and scrape it into the pastry-lined springform pan and smooth the top. The dough should reach about ½ inch above the custard. Preheat the oven to 210 C / 410 F. Bake the tart for 25-30 minutes.

7. Remove from the oven and let it cool. After cooking, keep it in the fridge for 6 hours before enjoying it! When the tart has been chilled and it’s cold run a knife around the edges to release it.

Tips & Notes:

♥ If you want a richer Parisian flan, add butter. Once the custard is finished, you can just add the butter and let it melt.

♥ Sweetened condensed milk works perfect instead of sugar. It’s my secret ingredient in my dairee free custard recipe. I use coconut condensed milk, oat milk and vegan butter.

Cookware list:

Hand whisker

Stainless Pot with Cover

Soup ladle

Cake springform

Glass Teapot

Cake plate

White rose tea

More cake recipes:

• Dairy free birthday cake
• Lazy cake with nuts
• Christmas bundt cake
• Italian lemon pound cake
• Italian Plum cake
• Black forest Yule log
• Bavarian cream donut

If you are looking for inspiration click here

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