On July 4th a year ago, I went to New Orleans and had some very delicious ice cream at
the Creole Creamery. I ordered the Red, White, and Blueberry, a yummy strawberry, blueberry, and banana parfait to share with my husband. However, inspired by the writing on the wall (literally, someone had written it there), I had to "try the lavender honey" before I left, so I requested a sample. The tasting of this little bit of Heaven on Earth changed my culinary life forever. Ever since then, I have daydreamed about the light, perfumy (is that a word?) flavor and vowed to go back there. Alas, I don't think I've set foot in the Crescent City since then, but I did find a place around here that sells dried culinary lavender (score!), and I have been looking at recipes all over the place starring the tasty flower. Lavender is quite the popular flavor in France, but, for some reason, Americans don't really use it in their cooking. It has become a bit of a fad flavor in recent years, though, so maybe that will change.
At any rate, through my research, I found
this sweet little recipe for lavender coconut flan.
Lavender Coconut Flan
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons culinary lavender
3 large eggs
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons sweetened flaked coconut
In a small heavy saucepan bring water and sugar to a boil, stirring
until sugar is dissolved. Boil syrup, without stirring, until golden
caramel. Pour caramel into a 1 1/2-quart soufflé dish, tilting dish
to coat bottom and some of side with caramel.
In a small saucepan, bring milk and lavender to a boil. Remove from
heat and cover. Let steep for 5 minutes. Strain the milk and discard
the lavender.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until frothy. Whisk in lavender milk,
sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla. Then mix in coconut.
Pour the custard into the soufflé dish. Pour boiling water into the
roasting pan to reach two-thirds of the way up the sides of the ramekins.
Bake the custards for about 50 minutes, or until set. Let cool in the
water bath. Using paper towels, blot any coconut oil that has risen to
the surface.
Run a thin knife around the soufflé dish. Invert each soufflé dish onto
a dessert plate; let the caramel drizzle onto the plate. Serves 6.
Now, I did do some tweaking, not really with the recipe, but more with the baking implements. You see, I don't have any ramekins. That, of course, never stops a resourceful baker. I just used my
Nordic Ware mini bundt pan. The recipe fills the whole pan plus a few silicone cupcake baking cups. I didn't realize my baking pan wouldn't be enough, so the baking cups didn't get any caramel. I cooked them at 325 degrees F for 45 minutes, checking every 15 minutes for done-ness. I think I took too long to make the custard because for my tiny flans, the caramel transformed into candy on the tops. They were also pretty hard to get out. Not only did the caramel form into a nice crunchy candy, but it also stuck to the pan. Next time, I guess it will be better to make the caramel last (oh, and make these things with ramekins!). Despite these slight mess-ups, it still tasted pretty good, especially after setting over night. I suppose the flavors had more of a chance to "marry" that way.
