Lulu's Salty Caramel Banana Coconut Flan

Lulu’s Salty Caramel Banana Coconut Flan Serves: 6 to 8

Preparation time: 20 minutes active, 1 ½ hours baking

Ingredients:

2 cups milk 3 eggs 1 egg yolk ¾ cup sugar 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut 2 banana’s pureed in the cuisinart or mashed well 1 cinnamon stick, or ¼ tsp of ground cinnamon 1 large piece of lemon zest 1 tablespoon rum 1 tsp vanilla (can be mexican or vanilla bean paste) extract 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg 1 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Put the milk in a medium saucepan with the lemon zest, cinnamon, nutmeg and rum. Slowly bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Take off the stove. Pour into a bowl and let cool.

You will need some custard cups or ramekins suitable for the oven. You don’t necessarily need flan cups, but something about 3” wide by about 2” tall. In a small non-stick skillet, spread out ¼ cup of the sugar. This is for the caramel to go in the custard cup or ramekin. Heat the sugar carefully and it will start to melt. Stir until you get a nice golden brown color. Pour about ½ tablespoon into each cup and tilt the cup to spread the caramel to cover the bottom of each cup. Work fast as the caramel will harden quickly!

Now in a small mixing bowl, combine eggs, ½ cup of sugar,1/2 cup unsweetened coconut, banana’s,vanilla and salt. Beat until foamy. Pour the cooled milk through the strainer to remove the extra bits. Mix the milk and egg mixtures together well.

Crack Pie

This recipe came from David Changs restaurant Momofuku in NYC. You don't need a mixer to make this recipe. Use a little elbow grease like Mattie and I did, we used our hands. The kitchen we used was devoid of any kitchen utensils and it still came out great! Try it with melted bittersweet chocolate on top. Its just plain decadent. Next time I'm going to mix unsweetened coconut flakes and dark chocolate in to the filling. Hopefully it will make it taste like a mounds bar.

Momofuku's Crack Pie

Total time: 1 1/2 hours, plus cooling and chilling times

Servings: Makes 2 pies (6 to 8 servings each)

Note: Adapted from Momofuku. This pie calls for 2 (10-inch) pie tins. You can substitute 9-inch pie tins, but note that the pies will require additional baking time, about 5 minutes, due to the increased thickness of the filling.

Cookie for crust

2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (3 ounces) flour

Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking powder

Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter

1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar

3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) sugar

1 egg

Scant 1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) rolled oats

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Whisk the egg into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.

5. With the mixer running, beat in the flour mixture, a little at a time, until fully combined. Stir in the oats until incorporated.

6. Spread the mixture onto a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking sheet and bake until golden brown and set, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to the touch on a rack. Crumble the cooled cookie to use in the crust.

Crust

Crumbled cookie for crust

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1 1/2 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine the crumbled cookie, butter, brown sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until evenly combined and blended (a little of the mixture clumped between your fingers should hold together). Divide the crust between 2 (10-inch) pie tins. Press the crust into each shell to form a thin, even layer along the bottom and sides of the tins. Set the prepared crusts aside while you prepare the filling.

Filling

1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) sugar

3/4 cup plus a scant 3 tablespoons (7 ounces) light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon (3/4 ounce) milk powder

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted

3/4 cup plus a scant 2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 egg yolks

2 prepared crusts

Powdered sugar, garnish

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt and milk powder. Whisk in the melted butter, then whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla.

3. Gently whisk in the egg yolks, being careful not to add too much air.

4. Divide the filling evenly between the 2 prepared pie shells.

5. Bake the pies, one at a time, for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake until the filling is slightly jiggly and golden brown (similar to a pecan pie), about 10 minutes. Remove the pies and cool on a rack.

6. Refrigerate the cooled pies until well chilled. The pies are meant to be served cold, and the filling will be gooey. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.