Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops & Caramel-topped Flan

My best friend came to visit me from Edmonton for the last 5 days. We did a lot of cooking, baking, eating and Winter Olympic-watching which were very enjoyable and fun. It was very nice to be able to share this with her. On her last day here, we spend all day baking these goodies, so that she can bring some back and snack during her flight back to Edmonton. She picked out these two recipes from Baking From My Home to Yours which are Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops and Caramel-topped Flan. Both of the recipes turned out wonderful. No one can say no to these chocolaty cookies and this classic caramel custard!

Malted milk powder reminded me of my childhood. Grew up in South-East Asia, we were familar to malted milk powder especially Ovaltine and Milo. It is pretty much a substition for hot chocolate in North America. In my opinion, the best way to make this malted milk drink is to make it with the sweetended condensed milk, no sugar. The condensed milk makes the drink creamier and gives more depth to the drink. Another way that I liked to make when I was young was to mix the malted milk powder with the sweetended condensed milk without water added. So, you get this sweet chewy frosting-type dough or whatever you call this brown gooey thing. To be honest, it was really good!  

Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops
(Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)
Make: 30 Cookies

1-3/4 C all-purpose flour
1 C malted milk powder ( I used the classic Ovaltine flavored)
1/4 C unsweetended cocoa powder
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick plus 3 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 C sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 C whole milk
2 C chocolate-covered malted milk balls ( I used Whoppers), coarsely chopped
1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven at 350 F.
Sift together the flour, malted milk powder, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. In a seperate large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with a hand mixer for 3 mins, until very smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 1 min after each addition. Mix in vanilla. Add in half of the dry ingredients, mixing until they disappear into the batter. Mix in the milk, and then the remaining dry ingredients. Mix until they are incorporated. Mix in malted milk balls and chocolate chips, using a rubber spatula. Drop the dough, a tablespoonful, on the lined baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches of space in between. Baking for 11-13 minutes, rotating the pan after 6 minutes. Let the cookies rest for several minutes on the baking sheet, and then transfer to cool to a room temperature on a cooling rack.

Caramel-Topped Flan
(Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)
Make: 6-8 servings

For the Caramel
1/3 C sugar
3 tbsp water
Squirt of fresh lemon juice

For the Flan
1-1/2 C heavy cream
1-1/4 C whole milk
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/2 C sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven at 350 F.
Line a roasting pan or a 9x13 inch baking pan with a double thickness of paper towel. Fill a teakettle with water and bring to boil, when the water bolis, turn off the heat.

To make the caramel, combine the sugar, water, and lemon juice in a small sauce pan. Put the pan over the medium-high heat and cook until the sugar becomes an amber-coloured caramel, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat at the first whiff of smoke and pour the caramel into the ramekins. Spread the caramel evenly over the bottom and set the ramekins aside.

To make the flan, bring the cream and milk just to a boil. In a separate large heatproof bowl, mix the eggs, yolks and sugar. Whisk vigorously for a minute or two and stir in the vanilla. Still whisking, drizzle in about one quarter of the hot liquid. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the hot mixture. Using a large spoon, skim off the bubbles and foam. Put the ramekins in the roasting pan. Pour the custard into the ramekins and slide into the oven. Very carefully pour enough hot water from the kettle into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake the flan for 25 mins, or until the top puffs a bit and is golden. A knife inserted into the center of the flan should come out clean. Remove the roasting pan from the oven, transfer the ramekins to a cooling rack and run a knife between the flan and the sides of the ramekins to loosen it. Let it cool to room temperature on the rack, then loosely cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

To serve, run a knif between the flan and the remekins. Place the platter over the remekins, quickly flip the platter and the remekins over and remove the remekins.