How far can a rice paper go

From croissants to spanakopita, flans to broths, all the unexpected talents of rice paper. And a flan recipe.

A few nights ago I had a vision. I wanted to make a flan with apricots, thyme, and lavender honey. I had lots of apricots hanging out in my kitchen (if you follow my notes on Substack, you probably already know). And among all the jam jars and frozen halves waiting for future cakes, I was craving a creamy flan with a sweet lavender note in the base and an almost burnt, tangy apricot half on top. I was not in the mood for experimenting with crust dough, so I opted for using rice paper dipped in a mixture of eggs, milk, and vanilla syrup.

You know, somewhat like the rice paper croissants that were all over the internet last summer. At that moment, the world was divided between the haters who were screaming they were not real croissants, and the more creative minds who were like… how many more things can be done with a simple pack of rice papers? You can easily imagine which team I was on, and still am.

First things first, there were the so-called “croissants”. Okay, they have nothing to do with real croissants, but they’re still a tasty, crunchy treat that can hit the spot sometimes. I still make them from time to time, though most often in the shape of a pain au chocolat: easier to roll and tastier than the plain version.

Then I discovered that rice papers can easily become large, thick noodles for an Asian-style broth. You just need to soak them in cold water, pair them two by two, and then cut them into large strips. And since it’s not so easy to find good gluten-free wide noodles around here, I take it as a solid option.

But there’s more on that. I think all of us have made Vietnamese rolls at least once in a lifetime. But who would think to make a whole spanakopita with them?

And then, of course, they can be used as a quick quiche crust alternative (note to myself: I want to try making a quiche in a pan, soon). Or they make the perfect crust for a flan, like in this recipe.

Ingredients for 6 mini dairy-free, gluten-free flans: