Petit dessert pour un vendredi après-midi – Flan de tapioca au lait d’amandes, noix de coco et banane

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Travels always leave you some special memories, flavors, and sensations…My trip to Japan left me with an incredible and delightful sweet sensation I will remember for the rest of my life…eventhough I prefer from far savory dishes than sweet ones, but desserts in Japan are probably like in the rest of Asian countries, light, fresh and not sweet, so for someone like myself, you’re in heaven. The thing is that you can barely taste the sugar in them and that’s exactly what I love most. In the US, everything is very sweet, in fact even the mouth fresheners are sweet. Isn’t it weird? probably because Americans have been used to sugar since their childhood.

The thing is after our western meals, it is almost impossible to eat traditional dessert pastries or cakes. I need to have a light meal to be able to enjoy my dessert. I think Japanese have understood this, and their traditional desserts have just the perfect light sweet touch you need to close a meal, it’s like the “THE END” after a movie.

Those beautiful pearls are what I tasted in Japan, they were served with a big green tea shaved ice huge bowl, and it was perfect for a hot and humid August summer in Tokyo.

I think we can accommodate those cute tapioca pearls with some exotic fruit compote. In France, weirdly enough, people used to eat those in soups I guess, it is somehow remained a “soup ingredient”.

I made a few times tapioca with raspberry purée a while ago, and it was excellent but I just wanted to try to get something that had the texture of a flan, and this is it.

Ingredients for 4 flans

  • 5 tbs tapioca pearls
  • 1 banana, pureed
  • 2/3 cup coconut milk + 2 tbs 
  • 1 cup almond milk + 3 tbs
  • 3 tbs light brown sugar + 2 tbs
  • 2 eggs

Preparation

In a pot heat the cups of coconut milk and almond milk and 3 tbs of sugar, when the liquid is almons boiling, add tapioca. Stir at low heat for about 15 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs with banana and the rest of the almond and coconut milks. Add the tapioca mixture and mix well.

Pour in silicon molds or individual ceramic molds previously buttered and cook in a preheated oven at 370F for about 20 minutes. Let cool and place in the refrigerator. Grill some slices of banana and decorate.