Caramel Coconut Flan Quesillo Food

VENEZUELAN FLAN QUESILLO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375º F (190º C). Place oven rack in the middle.

QUESILLO (VENEZUELAN FLAN)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Prepare a bain-marie, or water bath, by filling a 9-inch heat-proof container with water.
• Melt sugar in a nonstick pan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until melted, 7 to 10 minutes; be careful to keep it from burning. Pour sugar into a flan mold, coating the sides to ensure that the egg/milk mixture in the next step will not touch the container.
• Pour sweetened condensed milk into a bowl. Fill the empty can with milk and add to the bowl; stir in eggs and vanilla extract. Blend well. Fold mixture with a spatula or tap against the counter to remove air bubbles.
• Pour milk mixture into the slightly cooled flan mold. Put the lid on and place inside the water bath; don't let the water go over the rim.
• Bake the quesillo in the bain-marie in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Pry lid open with a knife carefully; continue baking until set, about 15 minutes more.
• Let quesillo cool to room temperature, at least 25 minutes; refrigerate 8 hours to overnight. Slide a knife around the edges of the mold to loosen and invert onto a plate.

COCONUT FLAN

Steps:

• Make caramel:
• Bring sugar and water to a boil in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved, then wash down any sugar crystals from side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Boil, without stirring, swirling pan occasionally so caramel colors evenly, until dark amber.
• Immediately pour into ramekins and swirl so caramel coats bottom of each, then put ramekins in a large roasting pan.
• Make flan:
• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
• Blend 2 cups milk with remaining flan ingredients in a blender until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl and stir in remaining 1 1/2 cups milk, then divide among ramekins.
• Bake flan in a water bath until just set but still wobbly in center, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.
• Remove ramekins from water bath and cool slightly on a rack, at least 15 minutes (flan will continue to set as it cools).
• Just before serving, run a thin knife around each flan, then invert onto plates.

COCONUT CARAMELS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the coconut flakes in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet, and toast until light golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Brush an 8-inch baking dish generously with coconut oil or coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle about 3 to 4 tablespoons of toasted coconut in an even layer on the bottom of the pan, and set aside.
• In a medium heavy saucepan, combine the coconut cream, sugar, corn syrup and sea salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Boil, stirring frequently especially toward the end, until a candy thermometer reaches 250 degrees and caramel is a light golden brown and thickened, about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the ginger and cardamom.
• Pour the caramel into the prepared pan. Once the caramel stops bubbling and the surface forms a thin skin, about 3 minutes, sprinkle another 4 tablespoons toasted coconut across the surface. Allow to cool at room temperature and set completely, about 2 hours.
• Run a spatula around the sides of the baking dish, loosen and lift the caramel, and move onto a board or clean surface.
• Slice the caramel into 8 (1-inch-wide) strips, then across into 1/2-inch pieces, so you have about 72 caramels. Roll the sides of each piece in more toasted coconut. Wrap as individual sweets using 4- to 5-inch squares of parchment, wax paper, or cellophane, or use store-bought candy wrappers, twisting the ends to seal. Store at room temperature in a cool dry place. Caramels will keep stored at room temp for up to 7 days or frozen after wrapping for up to 1 month.

COCONUT CARAMEL FLAN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350ºF. in a small saucepan, combine sugar and water and cook over medium heat stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Continue cooking until mixture is golden in color (about 4 minutes).
• Immediately pour mixture evenly into a 9-inch cake pan. (Mixture will harden and may crack slightly as it cools.)
• In a blender, blend evaporated milk, condensed milk, cream cheese, Coco Lopez, eggs y almond extract and then add coconut and mix well.
• Carefully pour mixture over caramelized sugar and place cake pan in a roasting pan, adding hot water to a depth of 1-inch in the roasting pan.
• Bake for about one hour or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cake pan from water and cool on a wire rack at least 30 minutes.
• Cover and chill overnight. Loosen edges with a thin knife. Invert flan onto serving plate so caramel will be on the top.