Introducing the world’s greatest custard tart: Flan Pâtissier! Also known as Parisian Flan, this incredible French tart is like a gigantic Portuguese Tart. It’s a flaky pastry crust filled with a wicked amount of creamy and rich vanilla custard that glows with a gorgeous bronze sheen after baking.
To say this thing is magnificent would be the understatement of the year. Words fail me. It’s that good!
Custard for Flan Pâtissier: Creme Patissiere
The custard for Flan Pâtissier is Creme Patissiere, a creamy vanilla custard that is used in many French desserts.
While exact recipes for Creme Patissiere vary depending on the intended use (ie. baked vs not baked; required viscosity for pouring vs piping vs filling vs spreading etc), the base ingredients are almost always the same:
- Eggs – Mostly yolks, for richness and also to help set the custard.
Leftover egg whites – Here’s my list of what I do with them and all my egg white recipes can be found in this recipe collection.
- Cornflour/cornstarch – For setting the custard and making it shiny (regular flour makes it dull). Attention FRENCH READERS: Do not use yellow cornflour, use white cornstarch!
- Vanilla beans – For a beautiful vanilla flavour. I used vanilla beans from Vanilla Bean House (Australian online store) – plump and filled with a generous amount of vanilla seeds! Vanilla bean paste is a good substitute here.
- Sugar – For sweetness. But not excessive sweetness! One of the things I adore about French desserts is that they are far less sweet than other typical Western desserts.
- Milk – The liquid for custard. Some recipes also use cream, for added richness. I prefer the mouthfeel of milk enriched with butter.
- Butter – As above, to enrich the custard.
How to make the custard for Flan Pâtissier
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