Strawberry Flan

The flan base is completely made from scratch with mum's easy 2-2-2-1 formula. That's 2 eggs, 2oz sugar, 2oz flour and 1 tablespoon of water. A couple of quick notes:

1. The recipe calls for self-raising flour but I don't keep it in my pantry. Why? Quite frankly, if you saw the amount of stuff in my pantry you'd understand – there's no more room. So that I don't need to keep both, I use plain flour in my baking and make my own self-raising flour by adding baking powder and that's exactly what I did here. Ever since I discovered vanilla extract in cakes, I just can't leave it out.
2. I added vanilla paste to this recipe but it's completely optional. Mum's recipe doesn't have vanilla and I adore it, but I thought it would be a nice addition and it was.
3. Lastly, while mum might work in ounces, I am totally clueless to them. I grew up with grams so I've shown both measures in the recipe. Sadly, 2-55-55-1 doesn't have quite the same ring to it, though.

Then the topping is just 2 punnets of strawberries and 1 packet of jelly. So you could call it a 2-2-2-1-2-1 recipe or a 2-55-55-1-2-1 recipe – whichever you prefer.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / 160C fan forced.
2. Grease and flour a flan tin (note 3).
3. For the sponge base: Beat together the eggs and sugar until very pale and thick (it should double in volume). Add the water and vanilla and beat again. Now add the water and sift over the flour. Gently fold through until fully incorporated. Pour the batter into your prepared flan tin.
4. Bake for 8-10 minutes until just starting to turn golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool, then turn out onto a cake plate.
5. Prepare the jelly: Pour the jelly crystals into a large glass bowl (this will allow it to begin setting quicker). Add the boiling water and stir until dissolved. Add the cold water and mix. Place in the fridge until required. The jelly will need to be cold and just starting to set before adding it to the flan.
6. To assemble: Give the cold jelly a whisk to make it smooth. Pour about a third of the jelly into the flan base and spread evenly. Top with strawberries. Then slowly and carefully pour the remaining jelly over the top, nudging the strawberries here and there to allow it to seep into all the gaps. You may not need all of the jelly (depending on the depth of your flan).
7. Allow to set for 3-4 hours before serving.

Recipe Notes

1. I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon.
2. If you don't have self raising flour, use a combination of 55g (2oz) plain flour and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder.
3. When greasing your flan tin, use a piece of baking paper to rub butter or margarine around the whole flan tin, making sure to get into all the grooves. Put some flour in the pan and tap the pan to move the flour all around to cover it.

Author: Marie