The smell escaping from the oven when a custard flan is baking — warm milk, sweet vanilla, pastry starting to brown — it’s hard to describe without wanting to cut a slice immediately. This strawberry flan takes the classic bakery recipe and adds just what it needs: pieces of strawberries that melt into the cream during baking and perfume it from within. No complicated technique, no special equipment.
Ingredients :
- Whole milk (500 ml) — It’s the liquid base that gives the flan its creaminess. Whole milk brings a roundness in the mouth that semi-skimmed milk doesn’t really provide — the texture will be firmer and less creamy with low-fat milk. Avoid plant-based milks: the cream won’t set the same way and the result will remain too liquid.
- Eggs (3) — Eggs are what make the flan hold together. They coagulate during baking and give the cream its firm but still silky texture. Take them out of the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before starting: room temperature eggs incorporate better into the sugar-cornstarch mixture and reduce the risk of lumps.
- Cornstarch (40 g) — Cornstarch thickens the cream without weighing it down, unlike flour which would give a heavier and stickier texture. Sift it before adding: poorly incorporated cornstarch forms small white beads that resist baking and end up in the final cream.
- Fresh strawberries (250 g) — Choose ripe and fragrant strawberries — that’s the only advice that really matters here. Tasteless strawberries bought out of season will remain bland even after baking. Gariguette or Ciflorette varieties are ideal for their acid-sugar balance. If you can’t find good fresh strawberries, thawed and well-drained frozen strawberries also work.
