Pale, wobbly desserts are pretty common around the world, with flan and egg pudding popular choices. Most custards and puddings are made from eggs and cream, which are not difficult ingredients to find. But if you're interested in making your own flan or egg pudding, you should know what you're working with. What itcomes down to is this: Flan is a custard and egg pudding is usually a pudding — but not always. Caramel is also involved, but we'll get into that later.
Both custard and pudding are sweet, goopy desserts made mostly from cream and then cooked. However, custard (and therefore flan) is made with eggs and sweetened milk alongside the cream, and flan itself includes caramel. On the other hand, pudding is made with sugar and some kind of starch to thicken the mixture (usually flour or cornstarch). It gets tricky because egg pudding does include eggs too, but bear with us: In egg pudding, eggs are used only for flavoring and not as a thickening agent. In custards (and therefore flan), the egg itself is the thickening agent that provides the jelly-like texture.
But maybe you're not here for those smaller details — you'd like to know what to expect when they get served to you. Flan is a dessert made by taking eggs, milk, sugar, and sometimes vanilla and adding it into a base of caramelized sugar (which is really just a fancy term for burnt sugar). Then you bake the entire mixture in the oven and, when it's done, you flip the flan over so that the caramel ends up on the top.
Egg pudding has a few different versions depending on whether you're in China, Japan, or elsewhere. A common Chinese egg pudding involves steaming up eggs, sugar, and water or milk on the stove to create a silky dessert that's much less firm than flan. But they're not all that different in the end. In Japan, the most popular "egg pudding" is called purin. But despite being called pudding, it's technically custard, and it's a regional variant of flan.
The Flan-Tastic Voyage
However, it's all complicated: The term "créme caramel" is often used interchangeably with sweet flan, especially in the United States, but elsewhere they're slightly different. In some parts of the world, "flan" and "egg pudding" also get used interchangeably — this is just how language works over such a large scale. But what we commonly know of as flan and egg pudding, at least in the U.S., come from different continents.
Flan dates all the way back to the Roman Empire, where ancient Romans cooked it up while experimenting with eggs. The dish has traveled quite a bit over the centuries, eventually becomingpopular in Latin America when it was brought over by Spanish colonists. Egg pudding was introduced toJapan in the 1800s (eventually leading to purin, meaning "pudding"), and several Chinese egg puddings rose up during the Qing dynasty. Cooked egg and cream desserts are still popular around much of the world today and they're not too difficult to whip up on your own.
However, custard (and therefore flan) is made with eggs and sweetened milk alongside the cream, and flan itself includes caramel. On the other hand, pudding is made with sugar and some kind of starch to thicken the mixture (usually flour or cornstarch).
What is purin? Purin is essentially the Japanese version of a pudding otherwise known as creme caramel, flan or baked custard around the world. Purin are so popular in Japan that you will find them in everywhere from convenience stores to patisseries. You can even find powdered purin to make at home!
Is flan the same as custard? Flan (also known as crème caramel) is a custard of sugar, milk, cream, and egg yolks, baked in a caramel-sauce-lined ramekin until soft and wiggly. All custards are egg based which would make flan a type of custard.
Custard primarily relies on eggs and dairy, while pudding uses milk or cream, sugar, and a starch thickener like cornstarch or tapioca. Custard tends to be smoother and more velvety due to the egg content, whereas pudding has a thicker, more gelatinous consistency because of the added starch.
Whisk milk, eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla together in a bowl until completely combined. Pour egg mixture into 6 custard cups; sprinkle tops with nutmeg. Place cups in a baking pan and fill the pan with enough hot water to reach halfway up the sides of the custard cups.
Crème caramel (French: [kʁɛm kaʁamɛl]), flan, caramel pudding, condensed milk pudding or caramel custard is a custard dessert with a layer of clear caramel sauce.
Flan is a popular dessert in Spain and Latin America, also known as creme caramel due to its indulgent custard base topped with delicious caramel. It's one of those delicacies that are irresistible and once you try it, you can't stop eating it.
Crème caramel, a custard dessert with clear caramel sauce, the most common US meaning. Flan (pie), an open sweet or savoury tart, the most common UK meaning. Flan or planchet, a blank metal disk to be struck as a coin.
The difference between crème brûlée and flan (two of our favorite kinds of custard) lies in four factors: the ratio of ingredients, the manner in which the custard is thickened, the method of cooking, and any additional components. Those extra components—different toppings and presentation—are easiest to see.
Flan does contain high amount of calcium but the cholesterol and amount of sugar over powers the calcium benefits. One serving (3.5 oz / 100g) of flan has close to 36 grams sugar. It is and seem quite high until you compare it with a can of soda which contains about 44g of sugar.
Texture: Both crème caramels and sweet flans have a smooth and creamy egg custard with a caramelized sugar syrup topping, whereas savory flans might contain vegetables, making them chewier.
In Japan, the most popular "egg pudding" is called purin. But despite being called pudding, it's technically custard, and it's a regional variant of flan.
There are three main varieties of custard: baked custard, stirred custard, and steamed custard. The first two are both popular in Western cuisine. Baked custard is typically firmer and made with whole eggs, while stirred custards can be much runnier and often only contain the yolks.
While most custard and pudding recipes both typically call for eggs, the main difference is that pudding uses a starch for thickening, whereas custard's thickening agent is the egg itself (or egg yolk, in most instances). Custard's texture also tends to be firmer than pudding.
It is referred to by its original Cantonese name, gai daan jai (雞蛋仔), and in English, an egg puff, bubble waffle, eggette, pancake balls, pancake waffle, egglet, and puffle. They are sometimes referred to as Hong Kong cakes in Chinatowns across America, especially in New York.
Puddings made for dessert can be boiled and steamed puddings, baked puddings, bread puddings, batter puddings, milk puddings or even jellies. In some Commonwealth countries these puddings are known as custards (or curds) if they are egg-thickened, as blancmange if starch-thickened, and as jelly if gelatin-based.
The term pudding in the United Kingdom can refer to different types of desserts, not necessarily resembling the American creamy concoction. In fact, what Americans consider pudding is more often called custard or dessert in Britain.
Introduction: My name is Annamae Dooley, I am a witty, quaint, lovely, clever, rich, sparkling, powerful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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