Flan pâtissier
One of the most popular cakes in Paris bakeries — sold by the slice, eaten on the way to work. It is a pastry case filled with a very thick layer of set custard, baked until the top is covered with dark spots. The secret is that the custard is cooked before baking — so it is thick, smooth and never cracks, and in the oven it only finishes. One condition is essential: chill for several hours before cutting.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Pastry case 30 min
- Custard 20 min
- Baking 50 min
- Chilling 300 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneLine a deep ring with pastry
Roll the pastry to 3 mm and line a 22 cm ring 5 cm high (or a springform tin) set on a lined baking tray, pressing into the sides. The edges must stand tall — flan is deep. Prick the base and freeze 20 minutes.
Ingredients: 300 g puff or shortcrust pastry
A deep ring, edges standing tall — flan is deep.Bring the milk to a boil with vanilla
Bring the milk and cream to a boil with the split vanilla pod and its scraped seeds. Take off the heat and leave covered 10 minutes for the vanilla to infuse, then remove the pod.
Ingredients: 750 ml milk · 250 ml whipping cream (30%) · 3 pcs eggs · 2 pcs egg yolks · 180 g sugar · 90 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla pod · 30 g butter
Beat eggs with sugar and starch
Beat the eggs and yolks with the sugar and cornflour into a smooth, pale mixture. There is a lot of starch on purpose — it is what makes the baked custard slice cleanly like cheese rather than spreading like pudding.
Ingredients: 750 ml milk · 250 ml whipping cream (30%) · 3 pcs eggs · 2 pcs egg yolks · 180 g sugar · 90 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla pod · 30 g butter
Cook the custard very thick
Pour the hot milk onto the egg mixture in a thin stream, whisking constantly, return everything to the pan and cook, whisking, until it thickens and starts to blip, then 2 minutes more. Stir in the butter. It should be thick enough to hold its shape.
Ingredients: 750 ml milk · 250 ml whipping cream (30%) · 3 pcs eggs · 2 pcs egg yolks · 180 g sugar · 90 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla pod · 30 g butter
Blipping and holding its shape — plus two minutes.Pour hot custard into the cold case
Take the case straight from the freezer and pour in the hot custard, levelling with a spatula. The contrast is deliberate: frozen pastry holds its shape and does not soak up moisture at once, and hot custard sets faster in the oven.
Ingredients: 750 ml milk · 250 ml whipping cream (30%) · 3 pcs eggs · 2 pcs egg yolks · 180 g sugar · 90 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla pod · 30 g butter
Bake to dark spots
Bake on the lowest shelf 45–50 minutes at 180°C, until the top is covered in dark brown, almost burnt spots. That is the flan's signature — a pale top means underbaked.
Ingredients: 750 ml milk · 250 ml whipping cream (30%) · 3 pcs eggs · 2 pcs egg yolks · 180 g sugar · 90 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla pod · 30 g butter
Cool and chill five hours
Cool in the ring to room temperature, then chill at least 5 hours, ideally overnight. Warm flan is soft and slumps under the knife. Cold, it cuts into clean, dense slices.
Ingredients: 750 ml milk · 250 ml whipping cream (30%) · 3 pcs eggs · 2 pcs egg yolks · 180 g sugar · 90 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla pod · 30 g butter
Cut with a hot knife
Remove the ring and cut with a long knife dipped in hot water, wiping it after every cut. Serve chilled or at room temperature — in Paris it is eaten cold, straight from the bakery.
Ingredients: 750 ml milk · 250 ml whipping cream (30%) · 3 pcs eggs · 2 pcs egg yolks · 180 g sugar · 90 g cornflour · 1 pcs vanilla pod · 30 g butter
A hot knife wiped between cuts — a clean slice.
Before you start
Puff or shortcrust
Paris bakeries use both. Puff gives a flaky, crisper base, shortcrust a dense, buttery one. What matters is that it is very cold when the custard goes in, or the base goes soggy.
Flan without a case
There is also a crustless flan pâtissier — just custard baked in a buttered tin. Simpler and lighter, but it loses the contrast of crisp base and smooth custard that gives it character.
Three days in the fridge
Flan keeps up to three days in the fridge under film and is best on the second day, once the custard has settled. Do not freeze — starch-thickened custard separates on thawing and turns watery.
