SC - Almond Milk flan from Scully

[Seton1355 at aol.com]

Today I was moved to make Almond Milk Flan from my new cookbook.  It came out 
tasting wonderful but there were some problems:

It thickened but it didn't set up.  
I used a litre of boxed almond milk instead of making my own.
When I used a *pinch* of saffron, the custard did not change color.  I added 
more (too much probably) and it came out a nice yellow-y color.  So how much 
saffron is too much?
I didn't have rice flour so I ground up 3/4 C of abrorio rice.  I chose the 
type of rice for it's sticky quality and the amount beacuse I used a litre of 
almond milk not  1 C gr almonds to 1 1/4 C water.....
Well , as I said it tastes good and I shall serve it over berries tonight.
Phillipa


EARLY FRENCH COOKERY
D. Eleanor Scullu & Terence Scully

*Almond Milk Flan*   (P282)

The use of almond milk in these flans makes them a lean-day counterpart for 
standard medieval milk or cream flans which would incorportate animal milk, 
eggs and butter, as well as spices and saffron on non-fasting days. The 
Menagier lists * Flaons de creme* / Creme Flans as part of the issue or 
dessert of the meal, although neither he nor various copiers of the Viandier 
have thought it worthwhile to provide a recipe for this preparation.

The variety of flan that Chiquart has left us is a delectable use of almonds. 
 Despite the absence of ingredients that we might nowadays think necessary 
for a custard, baking a combination of almond milk and rice flour produces 
highly palatable results that are not greatly different in texture from 
modern flan, but perhaps more interesting in flavor.

Prepare sufficient pâte brisée or other pie dough for a single crust, 9" pie 
or 10-12 tartlet shells.  Pre-bake blind or prick with a fork and bake for 10 
min @ 375F / 190 C.

1 C ground almonds
1 1/4 C water

1 ½ C sugar
pinch salt
pinch saffron
1/4 C rice flour
Garnish: 2 T blanched, sliced almonds or some fresh berries

Combine almonds and water well. (Blender may be used).  Strain thjrough 
several layers of damp muslin or cheese cloth to obtain almond milk.  

In a pot, bring almond milk just to the boiling point.
Add sugar and dissolve.
Add salt and saffron.
Add half of this hot mixture to the rice flourwhile stirring.
Combine with remaining hot almond milk.
Pour prepared custard mixture into prepared pastry.
Bake 20 - 25 minutes @ 375F / 190 C until light crust appears on surface.
Sprinkle with almonds or berries.

To serve: Serve warm garnished with fruit