Tangerine and ancho chilli flan

Flan is the most traditional Mexican dessert, consisting of caramel with custard set on top (or below, once flipped). The method here couldn’t be simpler: once you’ve made the caramel, all the custard ingredients are thrown into a blender and blitzed until smooth. It’s as easy as that.

General

• Source: Ottolenghi
• This recipe was originally developed with blood oranges, which pair wonderfully with ancho chilli. If they are in season, do use them instead. And by all means experiment with other dried chillies and fruit juices!
• The flan will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge, if you want to get ahead.
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 120g caster sugar
• 1 tbsp tangerine juice

Custard

• 1 large dried ancho chilli, soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes then drained (and deseeded if you prefer less heat)
• 270g condensed milk
• 100ml double cream
• 400ml whole milk
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract
• 1 tsp finely grated tangerine zest
• a generous pinch of flaked sea salt

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C fan. Place a 20cm x 20cm non-stick square tin, or a similar-sized ovenproof dish, in the oven to keep warm until required. Make sure your tin is not spring-form; you don’t want the caramel to escape.
2. For the caramel, put the sugar into a large pan on a medium heat and cook for about 8 minutes: resist the urge to stir, and instead swirl the pan until the sugar has melted. Continue swirling slowly until the sugar turns dark amber, then carefully and quickly remove the tin from the oven and pour in the caramel, tilting the tin as you go so the caramel covers the base evenly. Leave the caramel to set while you make the custard.
3. Squeeze the chilli very well to remove any liquid. Discard the stalk, then put the chilli, its seeds and all the remaining ingredients for the custard into a blender and blitz on high speed for about 30 seconds, until well combined.
4. Tap the caramel to make sure it has set hard, then place a fine-mesh sieve over the tin. Pour the custard through the sieve into the tin, discarding any larger bits of chilli that collect in the sieve.
5. Transfer the tin carefully to a larger, high-sided baking dish and place in the oven, keeping the oven door open. Carefully pour enough boiling water into the larger dish to come halfway up the sides of the flan tin.
6. Bake for 40–50 minutes, or until the surface is set and golden-brown, but the flan still has a good wobble to it (it will set in the fridge). Remove from the water bath and set aside to cool slightly, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
7. Remove the flan from the fridge 30 minutes before you want to serve it.
8. Carefully run a small knife around the edges of the flan to release it. Place a large plate (larger than your flan dish, and with a lip to catch the liquid caramel) on top of the flan tin. Holding both the plate and the tin together, quickly flip the whole thing over. Gently lift off the tin – the flan should have released itself on to the plate. Drizzle the tangerine juice over the flan and serve at once.