A French custard pie with shortcrust dough to which I like to add pistachio, like an oriental touch to a classical French “flan”. Delicious! You can also try without pistachio for a more classical version, or without dough for a lighter version. Enjoy!
French custard pie with pistachio
Equipment
- a 14 cm diameter and 5 cm high baking tin (otherwise convert the quantities of the ingredients)
Ingredients
For the flan
- 2 eggs
- 45 g cornstarch
- 100 g full fat cream
- 40 g powdered sugar
- 40 cl whole milk
- 40 g pistachio paste 100% pistachio
- 1 vanilla bean or 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
- 1 tsp orange blossom flavor optional
- 1 handful of natural peeled pistachios optional
For the dough
- 110 g flour
- 25 g powdered sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 15 cl water
- 60 g butter
Instructions
Preparation of the dough
- In a bowl, mix the flour and sugar.
- Add the butter previously cut into small cubes.
- Knead with the fingertips until you obtain a homogeneous consistency.
- Add the egg yolk and water and mix with a wooden spatula.
- Use your hands to form a ball of dough.
- Film and place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Preparation of the flan
- In a saucepan, bring the milk to boil with the vanilla.
- In a salad bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, cornflour and cream. Whip well.
- Add half of the boiling milk and mix again.
- Pour the whole mixture into the saucepan with the rest of the boiled milk.
- Heat over medium heat until the mixture begins to thicken.
- When the mixture thickens, add the pistachio paste and orange blossom and mix vigorously. Cook for another 2 minutes and turn off the heat. Set aside.
Assembling
- Take out the dough.
- On a floured surface or covered with baking paper, roll out the dough with a rolling pin.
- Line the bottom and edges of the tin with the dough and cut off any excess dough.
- Use a baking tin with removable bottom or line the tin with baking paper.
- Pour the flan preparation over the dough and smooth with a spatula.
- Bake at 200°C for about 40 minutes.
- Cover the flan with aluminium foil after 25 minutes.
- Check the baking time after 30-35 minutes. The custard should be well set.
- Ideally, prepare it the day before and leave it in the fridge for several hours before eating.
- Just before serving, crush the pistachios with a mortar and sprinkle the pistachio chips over the flan.
