I’m not huge fan of apple pies but Double-Take Apple Flan wins me over every time. I don’t know whether it’s the vanilla or the texture of the flan, but I could happily sit down and eat the whole thing. Imagine my dismay then when, having made a Double-Take Apple Flan the other day, my wife hijacked it and fed it to the neighbours!

Double-Take Apple Flan is so called because there are two ‘stages’ to the cooking and also because it tastes so good, there’s no way you won’t go back for another helping. It’s a winner no matter what the occasion, and the extra little trouble in preparation and cooking is well, well worth the effort. Your guests will love you for it. That’s if you have guests! In my case, I think the neighbours were very grateful for my time and effort!

Okay, you’re probably wondering why my neighbours were happy. You see, in France, we live in an apartment in what the French call a ‘Residence’. That’s a block of apartments that share a common access and common maintenance. For each résidence the owners appoint a professional ‘Syndicat de copropriétaires’ to manage the properties and deal with the maintenance. Day-to-day decisions are taken by a ‘conseil syndical’ – an elected group of owners. The other evening (after I had made my Double-Take Apple Flan) my wife went to a meeting of the conseil syndical, taking the flan with her…. and that was the last I saw of it! The greedy buggers ate the whole lot. Then they had the termerity to ask for the recipe!

Guess I’m just going to have to make another. But this one is not leaving my sight!