Vanilla Flan by Nicolas Paciello (aka the Lazy Flan)

Today, I’m offering you a vanilla flan, a recipe from chef Nicolas Paciello, which I very quickly renamed… the lazy flan. A simple, quick and above all hugely effective recipe. Clearly, it’s the kind of flan you can make on a whim, with no particular planning.

And yet, those of you who follow me here or on Instagram know that my favourite when it comes to flan is this ultra-creamy flan recipe with a quick bake. Until now, nothing could dethrone it, and even if it remains my favourite recipe (a flan with a nicely lined pastry case is still very pretty), I have to say that this new lazy flan recipe comes very close. Its real strong point is how quickly it comes together.

Why “lazy flan”?

Because everything is designed to be quick. Here, we use whole eggs, so no leftovers to deal with, and that’s already a big plus. Yes, I know egg whites freeze very well, but if you’re like me, the freezer is already packed with egg whites, so if we can do without, that’s the best!

As for the pastry cream, it comes together in a few minutes and can be used straight away, with no resting time. Then comes the baking, which is also fairly quick (13 minutes for me, even if the chef says a little more). And when it comes out, you get a beautifully creamy flan, with a texture exactly the way I like it. As for the baking time, it will be up to you to test according to your personal taste; I started at 16 minutes and finally went down to 13 minutes.

And the pastry, is it complicated?

Not at all, and that’s actually the whole point of the recipe. Here, there’s no traditional lining: you simply place a disc of pastry at the bottom of the mould, without going up the sides. It’s much quicker, and above all much more accessible if you’re not comfortable with lining a tart ring. The pastry base can also be prepared in advance and frozen. I always have a few set aside, which lets me make a flan whenever the urge strikes, without planning ahead.

The chef calls it “pâte à flan”; it is drier than a pâte sucrée and can be worked without any problem once made.

A little extra compared with the original recipe?

I added a little soft brown sugar. It brings a slight depth to the flavour, but above all a lovely colour. With whole eggs, the flan is naturally quite pale, so the soft brown sugar gives it a warmer tint, which I find really nice.

And what about the vanilla?

Here, it’s really important to choose a good-quality vanilla. Since it’s a vanilla flan, you can’t cheat on the flavour. The ideal is to use a nice pod and to take the time to do a cold infusion the day before, then top it up with a hot infusion on the day. That allows the aromas to develop to the fullest and gives a beautifully fragrant flan. Personally, I use Norohy vanilla pods, which you can find on the Valrhona website. It’s an organic vanilla from Madagascar, very aromatic, with floral and woody notes. And there’s recently been a much more interesting format: a 125 g bag, i.e. around 30 pods. With my promo code, that works out at around €1 per pod, which is really excellent value for money for this level of quality. And as for storage, no worries: vanilla keeps very well at room temperature, and you can also freeze it without any problem — that’s what I do, in fact. I take out a vanilla pod whenever I need one, and it thaws in a few minutes 🙂

If you’re looking for a simple, quick and really creamy flan recipe, this one may well become a classic in your home… as it has in mine, given that I’m already on my 6th in 3 weeks 😄