Fresh Mango Caramel Custard (Flan).

"Fresh Mango Caramel Custard (Flan)" ... Caramel Custard is my childhood fav. dessert ... there were very few restaurants in Mangalore my hometown that served the same back those days, In Mumbai too 25 yrs back few had them on list, but when ordered would sheepishly say its over ... Really ?? I wondered ... So I tried making them at home after going through some cookery bks. This is the first time though I am trying with fresh mango puree added on ... Sorry, Not very good at fruit crafting, but Dessert is simply delicious ... Yummilicious ... 

** Caramel Custard is a delicious dessert treat that can be relished after lunch / dinner. Many of us have a sweet tooth and would like to have some sort of sweet dish after a lovely lunch at weekends or when we have guests dropping in. Off course there are many who love to have something everyday. Summer time it is usually some cold dessert like Ice cream etc. Caramel Custard is a sweet dessert that can be savored all round the year. Though this dessert is served straightway from the fridge, it really does not chill that much unlike ice cream etc. This is one of my favorite dessert from childhood to date. For years now I have been preparing this dessert, but it is only for the past few years that I have started experimenting with it. 

** When we go out for lunch / dinner to restaurants, usually we end it with relishing some sweet dish. However, nowadays I have stopped this habit. I would rather have my sweet dessert another day or at another time, than gulp down everything at one time. With advancing age, you cannot and should not have all odd sorts of combination in one go at meals. Coming to dessert during my teens I had eaten this dessert at a well-known restaurant, but to my dismay I could never find this on the menu in most of the other places. Married and settled in Mumbai …. My search continued for this dessert, sometime I found it, but did not like the taste of it. But most of the time I never could find it to my utter dismay, and if it was there on the list, the waiter would always come back and sheepishly say it’s over. 

** I sometimes wonder if they just put things on menu card for creating impression. It so happened that I tried my same request in the same restaurant at least 4-5 times and always the reply was same. LOL … I had enough, before leaving, I wrote in the visitor’s book, exactly what I felt. I wrote, Sir, plz. Stop goofing, if you do not have it strike off the same from your menu card, do not mislead customers and I added my phone no. too. I was really surprised when I got a call in a week’s time apologizing for the same and that it was difficult to prepare the same blah, blah and in order to show that they were truly honest, he offered me 15% discount on my next visit. Hubby queried what would I do, I said let us go to his surprise, he was resistant, but I said wait and watch and he was game. 

** After lunch, we paid the full bill and then asked to meet the manager; the one who had rang me up. He promptly came up and was surprised to note that our bill was paid. He said he was sorry for the mess up, I convinced him it was not at all the issue, I also told him the food was excellent, the biryani is always too good, so why do want to do this goofing. You don’t need to, I told him, though he insisted that we at least take home some packed food, I declined to my hubby’s relief, well I never take anything free that is my policy. Hate free rides, which end up in total mess many a time in future. That is what my parents taught me and that is what my husband also stands for and me, all I wanted was the owner of the restaurant to realize there is no need to lie and that which is built on lies is always a doomsday. 

** I have previously posted 2-3 types of flavored caramel custards and will be including many more, so watch for this space. Now that I have said enough, let’s move on to the recipe, before some of you snooze off …. 

** Ingredients for making Fresh Mango Caramel Custard My Style …. 

Milk : half litre / 500 ml of skimmed milk. 

Skimmed Milk Powder : 4 tblsp 

Sugar : 1 cup + ½ cup 

Eggs : 5 large sized 

Mango Essence : 2 drops 

Yellow Color : 2 drop 

Ripe Mango : 1+1 large sized. I used Aapus Ambo (Alphonso Mango) 

** In a vessel add in the skimmed milk and bring to a boil. Once to comes to full boil, lower the heat and simmer for 10 mins. Keep stirring in between. In a small bowl add in the skimmed milk powder, add some hot milk that is simmering to it and mix well. See to it that it has mixed well and there are no lumps. Add this to the simmering milk and mix well. Let boil for another 2-3 minutes. Now add in one cup of the sugar and mix well. Remove from heat and keep aside to cool. 

** Note : You can use full fat milk which will taste much tastier and give you a better set custard / flan, in which case you need not add on the milk powder. Just boil the full fat milk and simmer for 10 minutes and cool, rest method is same. 

** Note : In case you have neither milk powder nor full fat milk and if milk cream is available, you can mix it with milk well to a smooth consistency and then heat the milk which will also give you a good thick milk. I have followed it in my last recipe and it turned awesome. 

** Peel off the skin of the outer skin of one mango and squeeze out as much pulp as possible and add it into a mixer grinder. Grind to a smooth puree. Remove and keep this aside ready. 

** In a glass bowl, break in the eggs and beat with an egg beater. I used electric beater, but you have to be careful with beating of eggs, do not over beat them till they are foamy. More bubbles is NO-NO in preparation of custards, though a few are fine. Just beat on low speed till they are mixed well and there are no visible egg white strings. Keep this ready aside. 

** Check if the milk has come to room temperature and then add in the beaten eggs and the mango puree. Add in the color and essence also and mix all well. Sieve this through a fine strainless steel sieve and keep it ready aside. 

** For caramelizing : I have always prepared these directly in aluminium cake molds. Add in the remaining ½ cup of sugar + 1 tblsp of water in the mold and keep it on medium flame for 3-4 minutes without stirring to caramelize the sugar. This method is called wet caramelization. It gives you greater control in the process, especially in preventing the crystallization and too fast darkening. 

** Once the sugar melts and it starts caramelizing and bubbles appear, it turns into slightly golden brown color. Now add in a tsp of water and mix well with a spoon and remove from fire immediately. This arrests further caramelization of the sugar. Now swirl the mold a bit so that the caramel spreads evenly towards 1/3” of the sides at the bottom. Keep it aside and let it cool. It hardly takes more than a minute or two. 

** Check if the caramel has set, by slanting the mold. If it has set it will not run in. Now gently pour the prepared milk~egg~mango puree mixture into the mould. Do not add on till the top. The mould should be just about only ¾ th filled. 

** Pour water into the Idly Steamer and bring to a boil. Once it comes to boil, lower the heat to minimum. Place a thick towel over the divider in the steamer, so as to cover the mold grom all sides with it. This help in evening the steam temperature and also prevents direct heat from hitting the mold. 

** Now gently keep the mold into the steamer without tilting it. Cover it with a fitting plate and fold over the towel too. Keep a small weight on it to prevent the lid from having any gaps. I had some leftover custard put in smaller bows, so I placed them on top of it. Steam on low heat for 25-30 minutes. Remove and let cool completely before putting it in the refrigerator overnight to chill. 

** Note : The sides of the custard should turn out smooth, which is something I have yet to perfect on. After reading through many articles on do’s and don’t’s I have made some changes from my previous posts, like placing of the towel and taking care to see that the eggs and not beaten to foamy texture. I have some more modification to do for perfection, but trust me the taste is simply awesome. 

** To Serve : Run a blunt knife gently all round the inner rim of the mold to separate the custard from the mold. Keep a fitting dish on top of the mold and overturn it so that the custard gets gently rolled over fully into the serving dish. See to it that the serving dish can fully accommodate the custard without spilling over. 

** Note : You can also make small one’s in muffins aluminium cups, so that it can be served as a whole to each guest which is much easier. 

** "Fresh Mango Caramel Custard (Flan)" is done and ready. Cut into slices in triangular shapes or squares and serve with some freshly chopped mango pieces if desired. It tastes great. Enjoy this yummy dessert with your family and friends at get together's. The best part of this dish is it has to be prepared at least 12 hours before serving. So you can prepare them the previous day, which gives you more time for other preparations. I am sure all of you will love this new version of fresh mango caramel custard. Do try it out now when the Mangoes are still in season. 

** For the preparing the Mango Rose (Optional) : Just slice off the skin of the ripe mango as thinly and smoothly as possible. Now slice off the two sides of the Mangoes. Now cut them into thin strips lengthwise. You will get a thing semi circle sort of strips small~medium~large size. Now arrange them on top of the inverted caramel custard by placing each semicircle in rounds to form a rose. I could not click picture of the same as I was in a hurry, You can give a search on the web and you will get the same. 

** You can use the search option for "Custard" where you will get many more desert dishes prepared using it. Do try out various types of deserts and relish them with your family and friends and do give me a feedback if possible. If you have tips on better methods of preparing the same too, plz. pass on the same, it will really be helpful. Also do check up on other custard dishes too as there are many pictures that will help you grasp the procedures and also the changes I have made. 

** An Earnest Request : There are many more recipes of similar type in the blog. For all my Recipes, use the search option or the label section in the Blog. If you are still not able to find it please leave a message in comment section or mail me the same. You can also go to my page (add on the left side of blog) and leave a message and I will try my best to get back to you as soon as possible … Thank you.