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Cherry And Praline Flan
Ingredients
For French flan pastry
6 oz plain flour
Pinch of salt
3 oz caster sugar
3 oz butter
3 egg yolks
For praline filling
2 oz unblanched almonds
2 oz caster sugar
1 tablespoon custard powder
¼ pint milk
¼ pint double cream (whipped)
1 teaspoon caster sugar
For topping
1 can pitted dark, or Morello, cherries
1 wine glass red wine
3-4 tablespoons redcurrant jelly
Grated rind and juice of 1 orange
8-inch diameter flan ring
Method
To prepare the pastry: sift the flour with the salt on to a pastry board or laminated-plastic work top. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add other ingredients. Work together with the finger-tips, knead until pastry is smooth; then chill for 30 minutes. Set oven at 375°F or gas mark 5.
To make praline filling : heat almonds and sugar gently in a small heavy pan. When sugar is a liquid caramel, stir carefully with a metal spoon to toast nuts on all sides. Turn on to an oiled tin and leave to set. When cold, crush praline with a rolling pin or put through a nutmill, mincer or grater.
Mix the custard powder and milk to a paste in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Turn into a basin, whisk well and cover with wet greaseproof paper to prevent a skin from forming. Roll out pastry, line on to flan ring and bake blind in pre-set oven for 12-15 minutes.
For topping: drain cherries. Boil wine to reduce it to half its quantity, add redcurrant jelly, orange rind and juice and heat gently until jelly has melted. Mix in cherries (keeping back a few to garnish the top) and leave to cool. When custard is cold, fold in whipped cream and praline, with caster sugar to taste. Fill pastry case with praline cream and spoon on cherry topping. Use the reserved cherries as decoration.
Praline:- is often used in confectionery, mixed with chocolate for rich fillings. The origin of the name praline (for a sugared almond) dates from the time of Louis XIII. The Duc de Choiseul-Praslin was renowned for his conquests both in battle and the bedroom; he once offered his favourite mistress a new sweet (a sugared almond, in fact) which had such success that it was called prasline, and a confectionery shop was opened especially to sell it.
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