German Apple Flan Dessert

Today we show you how to make the German apple flan dessert. First of all let’s clarify what is a flan?
A flan is a tart, a type of pie, with a base of shortcrust pastry. An example of a flan is a quiche. In both savory and sweet flans the filling tends to be based on a thick custard. However there are flans not based on custard. The recipe below is a German variation of a flan. It’s easy to make and for sure a delicious dessert. Happy Cooking!

Ingredients German Apple Flan Dessert

(serves 6-8)
1kg apples
80 g butter
150 g Amaretti
80 g raisins
500 ml heavy cream
6 eggs
125 g sugar
seeds of 1 vanilla bean
1 tbsp grated lemon zest (from organic lemon)
40 g almond slices
2 tbsp powdered sugar

Cooking Instructions German Apple Flan Dessert
1. Remove cores with core remover (so the apple stays as a whole), peel them and cut in 3/4 inch thick rings.
2. Melt butter in a skillet and on low heat saute the apple rings on both sides for 1-2 minutes.
3. Place half of the rings in a fire proof form; add Amaretti and raisins on top, then place remaining apple rings as last layer.
4. Mix heavy cream with eggs, sugar, vanilla seeds and lemon peel and pour it over the apples. Sprinkle almond leaves on top and in using the double boiler method cook it in the oven on 160 C or 320 F on the second level for 1 hour and 10 minutes. After 50minutes you can place a sheet aluminum foil on top so it won’t get too brown.
5. Take apple flan out of the oven and let it cool off for 10 minutes, dust it with powdered sugar and serve it warm.

 TIP
If you cannot find sliced almonds here is a way how to slice them:
– First you have to blanch the raw almonds, that means you have to remove their brown skin:
Cover almonds with boiling water and let them soak in it, while stirring, for about 3 min. Drain the almonds and then rub the skins off with your fingers. You now have blanched almonds which you need for the most recipes when they are asking for sliced almonds.

How to slice the blanched almonds:
– Working quickly while the blanched almonds are still hot and soft, use a vegetable peeler or small knife to slice the almonds into flat discs or flakes. You now have flaked almonds.
– If you then further slice each disk finely lengthwise, you will have slivered almonds.