Flan Recipe for Creme Brulee

Our answer

Nigella's Flan recipe (from Nigella Express) is a baked custard made with evaporated and condensed milk. It has a caramel sauce underneath and is similar to a creme caramel. There is no particular reason why you could not use this as a base for a creme brulee if you particularly like this custard, however we have not tried this ourselves so can't guarantee the results. You may also like to put the flan dish in a roasting pan with enough cold water to come halfway up the dish before grilling (broiling) the sugar topping. This will help to reduce the risk of the cooked flan overheating when you grill the sugar.

We would mention that a flan or creme caramel is a very firm custard whereas a traditional creme brulee is a very creamy and soft-set custard and there is a contrast between the soft custard and the crisp caramel. We would suggest also that you look at Nigella's Creme Brulee recipe (from Nigella Bites and on the Nigella website). The custard for the creme brulee is cooked in a saucepan and so it is fairly easy to make and control.