Strawberry & Cream Sponge Flan

Well - this has to be one of the simplest and easist of bakes I've made (and enjoyed !) in a long time.

In the last lot of new moulds, I found we had this silicone bakeware flan mould. I was actually expecting them to be pie dishes - so it was a bit of a surprise ! To be honest, I now think it was a really good surprise.

I've searched the web and the vast majority of silicone flan pans / moulds that I found were actually fluted for fluted tart cases or pies. They WERE NOT flan pans.

When you turn out a sponge flan base, it should have a little raised edge around the top - as you can see on the sponge flan base I made below.

This little raised edge is really important as it helps keep the fruit on top of the flan and stop it sliding off.

Traditionally, flans are normally filled with pastry cream or cream and topped with sliced fruits. However, there is nothing to stop you piling a load of whole strawberries on top if you really feel like it !

It looks quite heavy going to eat - but is actually quite light. The whipped cream I've put on here is only a thin layer. For a bit of extra yumminess, I drizzled poured loads of strawberry topping over the top. Strawberry topping is made by Silver Spoon under the name of Askey's. It's seriously lush stuff and used on top of most commercial bakeries strawberry tarts.

All in, this makes a truly superb treat for an alfresco Sunday lunch. The strawberries, cream and topping really do need to be done last minute as otherwise the topping and cream will all soak into the sponge flan.

For the sponge base, I just used a basic victoria sponge mix - 4 egg volume

75g caster sugar, 75g self raising flour, 75g butter and one egg. Multiply for standard sponge base as required.