A Family Favorite - Filipino Leche Flan (reduced sugar)

With the rush of the holiday season, my blog seems to take a hit at the end of each year and gets forgotten for a little bit. I promise you it's for a good reason though. It was to spend quality time with my family.

 

Some of the extended family, my mom, and I from San Diego had an chance to visit my aunt who lives in Nashville and meet up with my uncle who came up from Alabama to celebrate a southern Thanksgiving. We flew in on Thanksgiving Day...which made me wonder, when two of the family cooks and two of the family bakers (one being myself) were flying in at 2PM in the afternoon, who was going to cook?!

The generation of amazing cooks/palettes I keep talking about in my stories...plus all their first borns. I'm waiting for the day they make us cook/bake the holiday meals!

 

 

My aunt Sherri and uncle Ronnie did a fantastic job starting the meal and my mom and uncle Rod jumped right in to help. One of the first things my uncle Ronnie said to me when I got there was, "I made something just for you."

 

Giving thanks for the spread.

 



 

It's rare not to have a flan at one of our family parties or holidays.  Filipino flan is much sweeter than Mexican flan...a custard dessert made with tons of egg yolks, condensed milk, and dark brown sugar syrup....usually one of the holiday dishes I can't sneak onto my plate. BUT....my uncle had made me a no sugar added leche flan! I cannot even express how excited I was. As a spooned the flan into my eager mouth and my already too full tummy....my uncle kept telling me he hoped his recipe would make it onto my blog. So here it is!

 

Leche Flan (reduced sugar)

10 egg yolks

1/3 cup sugar substitute

2 cans of evaporated milk

pinch of lime zest

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

agave syrup (enough to coat the bottom of your baking dish)

 

Coat the bottom of the baking dish with agave nectar then refrigerate for about half an hour.

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl then slowly stir with a whisk without pulling out the whisk to avoid creating bubbles.

Strain the egg mixture.   

Slowly pour egg mixture into the baking dish. Bake on a water bath for about 30 to 45 minutes. Loosely cover the top of the baking dish with aluminum foil to avoid browning the top of the flan. You can use a toothpick test to make sure the flan is set and fully cooked.

Cool then flip onto a serving plate. Set in the fridge until ready to serve.

 

*Sueshine Notes: I know I said my uncle's recipe was no sugar added but I added a sugar substitute to make up for the lack of condensed milk which gives the texture and sweetness of a traditional flan.

It seems the traditional shape of Filipino flan is oval. I purchased an oval baking dish about 2 inches deep x 9 inches long. This recipe filled the dish plus 3 small ramekins.



 

Left: 10 egg yolks (okay so I broke one while separating them. Don't worry, breaking them doesnt make a difference)
Right: Ramekin dishes in a water bath. Tip: Place the water bath dish on the rack first then add the water.

 

I'll be honest with you. This was my first time making flan and I was afraid that it would go terribly wrong. I guess my family genes kicked in since the flan turned out perfectly. The texture was smooth and creamy with no air bubbles and the sweetness was just like the traditional sugar-laden version. I haven't been this excited about baking in awhile and I literally did a happy dance in my kitchen. I had made one of my family's traditional dishes AND I could actually eat it! I suppose the real test will be when I bring it to the next family gathering and see what everyone says (It's a tough crowd!) For now, I happily sit and enjoy every bite...for myself :)

 

 

 



Drawer Full of Snacks - Caramel Corn

I think a lot of people who have desk jobs have a snack drawer. I know of least 4 people in my department that have one. If you do work at a desk and don't have a snack drawer, once 3 o'clock rolls around, what do you do?! I'm usually ready to crash and need a pick-me-up. Unfortunately, with being diabetic, I don't have the luxury of keeping junk food in my drawer and I have to be a little more picky so my sugars don't suddenly spike. Also not good for a diabetic is not to have emergency snacks. I had just started my insulin shots again and I had gotten lazy about restocking. One afternoon, I started to shake uncontrollably and I had trouble concentrating. My blood sugar was too low and I didn't have anything to eat to bring it back up. I had to run to the store for some orange juice so I could feel like I could function again. It's scary to feel like you don't have control of your body and I certainly don't want to go through that again. I've learned to keep my snack drawer stocked but again, sometimes it's hard to find something to snack on.

 

So with that said, November is National Diabetes Awareness Month and I've decided to focus on some homemade snacks to keep in my desk drawer that might be slightly healthier than what you find at the market. One of the staples in my drawer is popcorn and I know that with all that "butter," it can't be the healthiest thing to eat. But then again, I also want my popcorn to taste like something. I decided to experiment this weekend with plain organic popcorn and a bottle of Sohgave that I recently found at Home Goods.

 

 

Caramel Corn

Adapted from sparkpeople.com

 

1/2 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend (equivilent to 1 cup of brown sugar)

1/2 cup of agave nectar (such as Sohgave)

1/4 cup of butter

1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of salt

10 cups of air popped popcorn or 2 bags of plain microwavable popcorn*

 

 

Preheat the oven to 250*F. Spray a large baking sheet generously with cooking spray such as Pam.

Pop popcorn and set aside in a large bowl.*

In a saucepan, mix together butter, sugar, and agave over medium heat and stir occasionally. Cook for approximately 5 minutes. Lower heat if the sauce begins to bubble too much or it may burn. Remove from heat and mix in the vanilla, baking soda, and salt.

Pour about 1/3 of the sauce over the popcorn and gently mix so the popcorn is coated. Continue to pour more of the caramel sauce over the popcorn and continue to mix.

Once the popcorn is coated, spread onto your baking sheet in an even layer.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Approximately 15 minutes into the baking time, stir to avoid burning or sticking.

Remove from oven and stir gently to break up any clumps. Cool before serving.

 

 

*Sueshine Notes

-I stared at all the various popcorn brands in the snack aisle for a long time before settling on plain microwavable popcorn because 1) I didn't have an electric air popcorn popper 2) Everything seemed to be either "movie theater butter" or kettle corn flavored. I went with Albertson's Wild Harvest popcorn because it was organic, unflavored, and has no trans fats or artificial flavors.

-I made the mistake of not separating the kernels from the popcorn before I started. The end result was the kernels sinking to the bottom of my baking sheet and sticking to the caramel. Talk about trying not to chip a tooth when you're distracted with all the sticky goodness! So in other words, please take the time to let the kernels settle to the bottom of the bowl then dump them out.

-Unless you have a giant bowl that can hold two bags of popcorn, I recommend mixing in smaller batches. My puppy thanks me for not realizing this earlier and dropping a few stray pieces all over the kitchen floor.

 

 

 

 

I've missed caramel corn and this was certainly a suprising treat. This was the first time I used agave nectar and it served as a great substitute to corn syrup. One new snack in my desk drawer....I can't wait until 3 o'clock!

 

 

note: I'm not a doctor or nutritionist. You know your dietary restrictions and your body so be sure to keep with your doctor's plan for you. Also, remember to eat your snacks in moderation