Samar la de Beirut: January 2014

My Dearest Beauties,

If you are traveling the world, running around a new city solo, and are not lucky enough to have a private driver to show you around you most probably will have to commute using the public transport. Holding a heavy over packed handbag is not the most practical when you have to run in and out of the underground trains and stations while also holding all your shopping bags, water bottle, umbrella, etc, etc, etc... That is the recipe for a crazy night of body pains. In some cases, we are even worried that some of the places we visit are not so safe and we not only have to hold our huge bags but also take care of how we hold them

The key is to buy yourself a cross body bag that you cannot over pack but can still fit just enough of your essentials. Make sure, it closes with a zipper so that you don't spill any of your valuables out. You can now run freely and can also hold many more shopping bags :).

Cross body bags are chic and you could find them everywhere from Topshop to Zara, Rebecca Minkoff to Tory Burch, Chanel and Hermes. Some of them are so useful that they even double up as a night time bag or clutch.

For some of you avid travelers this is old news but I hope it, still, lights a bulb for some of you out there.

Much Love,

Samar

I love experimenting with dessert at home. Much to the annoyance of my mom, I rarely make the same dessert twice because I'm always trying new things. This is usually how it goes: I make a recipe, my mom falls in love with it, I never make it again. Vindictive, right?

My defense is that there are just too many interesting desserts to try out there for me to make the same old recipes.

...so there.

This recipe for caramel flan is an exception to that rule and just so happens to be a favorite of my mom's (see, I'm not so horrible). I find myself coming back to it over and over again. It is ridiculously simple and I usually have all the ingredients laying around so I can whip it up at a moments notice. The only drawback is having to waiting 3 long hours for the custard to cool to dig in.

Caramel flan, a firm custard baked over a layer of caramelized sugar, is the Latin cousin of crème caramel. They're pretty much the same thing. The only difference I've noticed is that flan is thicker. Also, you can have different flavors of flan (pumpkin, chocolate, cinnamon, and so much more), whereas crème caramel doesn't vary.

There are two components to caramel flan: the caramel and the flan! Please, refrain from gasping in shock.To make the thin caramel sauce, first set up eight 4 oz ramekins in a hotel pan or cake pan.

Place half a cup of sugar in a small saucepan. Make sure it is not an aluminum saucepan. Aluminum reacts adversely with the sugar. Add a bit of water and mix. Here's the thing. I didn't include an exact amount of water to dissolve the sugar in because it really doesn't matter. No matter how much water you dissolve the sugar in, the sugar will caramelize. It's just a matter of how long it will take. The water needs to be cooked off for the sugar to start brown. So only add enough water to make it look like wet sand. Too much water and it'll take forever to caramelize.

Sugar dissolved in water. You'll notice it's a thick mixture resembling wet sand.

Cook the sugar over high heat. As soon as you put it on the heat, get a pastry brush and dip it in water. Brush the sides of the pan to dissolve any sugar crystals stuck there. Continue cooking until it comes up to a boil. At this point do not stir the mixture at all! This will cause it to crystallize, which is just a fancy term for becoming solid again. You don't want sugar lumps in your caramel.

Cook until it starts to brown. As soon as you see a slight color change, do not leave that caramel. Treat it like an overbearing mom would their child. Watch it carefully, almost distrustfully. It can go from perfectly browned to burnt in a matter of seconds. Gently swirl the pot to evenly distribute the browning. As soon as it turns a deep amber color take it off the stove.

This is the tricky part. Be very, very careful! If it has the chance, this stuff will burn your skin off. Carefully pour a thin layer of caramel into each individual ramekin, swirling the ramekins to cover the entire bottom. The caramel should harden almost instantly.

On to the custard! To make the flan mixture, whisk eggs, heavy cream, and sweetened condensed milk in a medium bowl. Dissolve cornstarch with a small amount of water in a separate bowl. If we were to add the cornstarch directly to the batter, it would clump. Whisk the dissolved cornstarch into the flan batter. That's it. You're done. That easy!

Let's talk about eggs for a moment. Eggs are the reason you can unmold flan after it is baked. Whole eggs are used to provide both richness from the fat in the yolk and structure from the protein in the white. This is important in order for the flan to maintain its shape when unmolded.

The incredible, edible egg.

Fill each ramekin with flan batter almost to the rim. These custards are baked in a water bath to keep the eggs from curdling. Pop the pan in the oven, and then pour some hot water into a liquid measure cup, and then pour into the pan. Fill until the water comes half way up the sides of the ramekins. Be careful not to get water in the ramekins! Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the custards are mostly set but still giggle slightly in the center. Take out, let cool in the water bath. Once they are cool enough to handle take them out of the pan and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

To serve, simply slide a knife around the edges of the ramekin and invert on to a plate. A thin caramel sauce should fall beautifully down the edges. Hold on a second! How did that hard caramel become liquid? The secret lies with moisture. The sugar softens from moisture of the flan. Voila! A thin caramel sauce.

This flan is thick, creamy, and sweet. Perfection.

*If you're making the flan for a larger crowd, triple the recipe and bake in a 9x13 inch pan. Place the pan in a hotel pan to make a water bath. Bake for about an hour. After it is baked and cooled, invert onto a cutting board and cut into 1 inch squares.

I picked up this recipe while working at Lena, a Latin-fusion restaurant. We used to make and refrigerate large batches of the unbaked batter and bake the flan fresh each day. I scaled down the serving size for you.

Caramel Flan

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

9 oz heavy cream

3 large eggs

1 tsp cornstarch

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 325°F. Place eight 4-ounce ramekins in a 9x13 inch cake pan.
To make caramel, dissolve sugar with enough water to make it look like wet sand in a small saucepan. Place over high heat. Brush sides of pot with water to dissolve sugar granules. Cook until it is a deep amber color. Working quickly, but carefully, fill the bottom of each ramekin with caramel to make a thin lining. Set aside.
Whisk sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, and eggs in a medium bowl. Make a slurry with the cornstarch (meaning, add a little water to cornstarch in a small bowl to dissolve it.) Add slurry to mixture while whisking.
Pour batter in caramel lined ramekins.
Place the entire pan in the oven then create a water bath by filling the pan with water so it comes half way up the ramekins. Careful not to get water into the flan batter!
Bake flan 25-30 minutes until set, but still jiggles slightly in the center. Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving.
To serve, slide a knife around the edge of the ramekin and invert onto a plate.

- Rima