Ingredients :
For the dough
250 g of flour
125 g soft butter (not melted)
2 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
60 ml water
For the flan
1.2 liters of milk (preferably whole milk)
300 g sugar, divided into 2 x 150g
6 eggs
140 g Maïzena (cornstarch)
30 cl of full cream
1 vanilla pod
Preparation :
For the homemade shortcrust pastry
In a small bowl, mix the flour, sugar and salt. Add the soft butter cut into small pieces and knead with your fingertips for a few minutes until you obtain a sandy mixture. Add water and quickly form a ball of dough. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Shortcrust pastry
After the 30 minutes, roll out the shortcrust pastry into a large, thick disk (a little thicker than store-bought shortcrust pastry, about 3mm) on a lightly floured work surface. Line a buttered pastry circle (20-22cm) with the dough, making sure the dough sticks to the sides of the circle. Prick the dough with a fork. Place the circle on a baking sheet (or oven tray) lined with baking paper (or better yet, a baking mat). Set aside in the refrigerator while you prepare the flan mixture.
For the flan
In a large saucepan, pour the milk, 150 g of sugar (half of the sugar in the recipe), the seeds of the vanilla bean (previously split and scraped to recover them) and the vanilla bean. Mix and bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, whisk the eggs and the remaining 150g of sugar in a large bowl for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cornstarch (preferably sifted) then the cream and whisk well until the mixture is smooth.
When the milk boils, turn off the heat, remove the vanilla bean and pour the milk into the large bowl (containing the rest of the ingredients) in batches, whisking well. Return the mixture to the large saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until you have a thick mixture as shown in the photo.) Turn off heat and let cool for 15 to 30 minutes.
Recipe Thick pastry flan
Preheat oven to 210°.
Preheat the oven
Take the baking sheet and the circle out of the fridge and pour the mixture inside. Smooth the surface.
Recipe Thick pastry flan
Place in the oven at 210° for 20 minutes, then increase the temperature to 240° and cook for about 10 more minutes. The flan should be nicely browned and still shaking when it comes out of the oven. Don’t hesitate to cover the flan at the end of cooking if it browns too quickly or to continue cooking for a few more minutes if it is too pale. Once out of the oven, let the flan cool to room temperature before unmolding, then set aside in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight (or 12 hours).
