Floating Island (Filipino Style)
Layer of leche flan, purple yam and topped with meringue frosting like brazo de mercedes. This is an ultimate 3 in 1 dessert!
Ingredients:
For Ube Halaya:
1 kilo uncooked purple yam or ube, boiled and mashed (1 kilo = 3½-4 cups of mashed yam)
Water, for boiling (enough to cover the purple yam)
1 tall can (370 ml) evaporated milk
1 can (300ml) condensed milk
½ cup white sugar
½ stick of butter, + extra for greasing
1-2 tsp. ube extract
Purple food coloring, (optional)
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated (toppings)
Mama's Guide Instructions:
First scrub and wash yams, then boiled the purple yam in a deep pot, just cover with water enough to cover the whole yams. Bring to boil over medium heat for about 25-30 minutes or until tender. Fire off, transfer in a colander and let it cool.
When it cools down, peel off the skin and discard, then mashed the yam until smooth and free from lumps. For those who are using frozen purple yam, simply thawed them before using and skip the boiling preparation.
In another pot, combine evaporated milk, condensed milk and sugar, then bring to boil over medium heat stir to dissolve the sugar. When it starts to boil, turn the heat to low and add the mashed purple yam and stir continuously until it thickens to avoid the mixture from burning at the bottom.
When it starts to thicken, add 2 teaspoons of ube extract and food colour (optional) and continue to mix until well blended. Stir in the butter and mix well until blended. Keep stirring until you get your desired consistency for some they like spreadable and for others they want a little bit firm. To store your purple yam jam you can use tiny jars for the spreadable ones. For the firm purple yam you can place in a greased Llanera or plastic containers. Refrigerate purple yam for at least an hour before serving.
YIELD: (2) Large Llaneras
For the Leche Flan:
4 large eggs
2 Egg yolks of Large eggs
1/2 cup Water
1 tsp Cornstarch
1 1/2 cup Sugar
1 cup Evaporated Milk
1/2 tsp Vanilla Flavor
Procedure:
In a mixing bowl with wire attachment, beat whole eggs and egg yolks at low speed for 1 minute. In another mixing bowl with wire whip attachment, combine water, cornstarch,sugar,evaporated milk and vanilla flavor. Mix thoroughly at low speed until all ingredients are well incorporated. Once the milk mixture is well incorporated, add the egg mixture. Mix at low speed for approximately 10 minutes. Strain the mixture while pouring equally onto the prepared leche flan molders. Remove froth on top of the mixture so that the flan comes out smooth.
For the meringue:
10 egg whites
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Instructions:
Whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar on high speed until soft peaks form.
Add the sugar gradually while still whisking until stiff but not dry.
Whisk in the vanilla.
Preheat oven at 325F
Pre-heat the oven to 340° F/170° C.
Line a 15″ x 10″ baking tray with baking paper, making sure that the paper is higher than the sides. Grease this liberally or spray with a non-stick baking spray.
Spread the ube yam in the bottom of the prepared pan. Then on the second layer put the leche flan mixture. Cover the molders or pan with aluminum foil and place it over a bigger pan. Fill the pan with water so that half of the leche flan molders are submerged. Bake the leche flan for 50-55 minutes or until top is set. Once baked, pull out from the oven and remove it from the pan. Allow the flan to cool completely in the molder.
Once cooled, put the meringue mixture on the top of the flan. Tap the pan or tray sharply on a hard surface to expel large air bubbles. Level the top with a spatula. You can use a zigzag icing comb to create patterns on the surface.Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown.
It puffs up when baked but deflates a little once out of the oven.Let it gradually cool down inside the oven, just leave the oven doors open to prevent the meringue from deflating from sudden change of temperature.
Once cooled. Remove from oven and let it cool in the fridge. Serve and enjoy!
