flan

/flæn/

/flæn/

Other forms: flans

The word flan is used to describe several different foods, most of which involve either pastry or custard. It's also used in the making of coins (not for a type of food).

A flan can be a dessert that's custard-baked without any pastry and covered with a caramel topping. It can also be a type of open-topped pie or tart. The pastry shell for this type can be filled with sweet stuff, like cream, custard, and fruit, or savory stuff, like cheese, potatoes, and caramelized onions. In money production, on the other hand, a flan is a blank disk of metal that gets stamped to turn it into a coin.

Definitions of flan

1. noun

   an open pastry filled with fruit or custard, popular in European baking
2. noun

   a sweet, baked custard topped with caramel, popular in Latin American cuisine
   type of:

   afters, dessert, sweet

   a dish served as the last course of a meal
3. noun

   a metal disk ready to be turned into a coin by stamping