The most delicious flan from Maastricht

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A visit to Maastricht is not complete without a piece of flan. Maastricht is in fact a real flan city with many bakers who are masters of flan baking. Some have been making this famous regional product for over 100 years. But what exactly is flan, how do you eat it and where can you find the best flan in Maastricht? We would like to give you a quick course with answers to these questions.

Vlaai is a typical type of Limburg pastry that is widely available in Maastricht, among other places. This delicacy is also baked and sold in the rest of the country, but then it may not be called a 'Limburg vlaai'. Vlaai is usually filled with a mixture of fruits such as gooseberries ('kroonsele' in Maastricht dialect), cherries, plums, apples or apricots. Instead of fruit, pudding or rice pudding can also be added to the base. The custard base with filling is covered with a lattice of dough or crumbs and then it can go into the oven.

The flan has a history dating back to the Middle Ages, especially in the Limburg region. The earliest versions were simple, flat cakes made of dough and filled with locally available fruit, such as cherries, plums and apples. Flans were often baked for religious festivals, harvest celebrations and other important events. The name "vlaai" is probably derived from the German word Flade, meaning flat cake. Over the centuries, the vlaai evolved from a simple home pastry to the recognisable Limburg pastry. When bakers started selling flans commercially in the 19th and 20th centuries as well, the pastry spread beyond Limburg and became known throughout the Netherlands.

In Limburg homes, flan was often baked at home in the past. The women of the family made the dough and filled the flan with fruit from the garden or pantry. Sometimes the children helped lay out the fruit or braid the dough. The flan was on the table at birthdays and other parties, but was also sometimes simply made to treat family or neighbours. Baking vlaai was a custom passed down from mother to daughter and was part of daily life and traditions in Limburg.

Since 22 January 2024, Limburg flan has been officially recognised as a regional product by Europe. A flan may be called 'Limburg flan' if the pastry meets these requirements:

The flan must have been baked in Belgian or Dutch Limburg.
The diameter of the flan should be between 10 and 30 centimetres.
The bottom of flan should be no more than 1 centimetre thick and should be made of yeast dough.
The flan should be able to be eaten out of the hand.
The weight of the flan should be between 140 and 1400 grams.
The flan may only be filled with fruit (except pineapple and strawberries), rice or semolina, cream, pudding or sugar and this filling must be baked with it.
No whipped cream is allowed on the flan.
For every 1 kilogram of flour, the dough contains at least 300 grams of fat, 350 grams of liquid (milk or water), 50 grams of sugar, 30 grams of yeast, a maximum of 20 grams of salt and possibly an egg.

The flan should not be frozen after baking.

Flan is usually served on a plate with a pastry fork, but we actually prefer to eat it without cutlery. The structure of flan lends itself perfectly to being eaten on the plate without spilling. In Maastricht we say 'lek finger, lek doum' for a reason. That means 'to lick your fingers off'.

Patisserie Royale

A passion for patisserie since 1929. More about Patisserie Royale

Patisserie Royale
Bakkerij Paulissen

Bakkerij Paulissen is a modern Maastricht bakery with a rich family history. More about Bakkerij Paulissen

Bakkerij Paulissen
De Bisschopsmolen

This water mill was owned by Godfrey of Bouillon in the 11th century and by the Prince-Bishop of Liège after his death. More info on De Bisschopsmolen

De Bisschopsmolen
Bakkerij Mathieu Hermans

Classic Maastricht bakery, just outside the city centre. More about Bakkerij Mathieu Hermans

Bakkerij Mathieu Hermans
Peter Lemmens Sint Pieter

High-end patisserie and delicious local pastries. More info on Peter Lemmens Sint Pieter

Peter Lemmens Sint Pieter
SoDelicious

In the early morning when the city wakes up, the smell of freshly baked bread, breakfast from the shelf, the first delicious moment of the day. More info on SoDelicious

SoDelicious

In 2017, we launched ‘Vlaai Day’ to show just how proud we are of this sweet souvenir from Limburg. Since then, we’ve been celebrating the vlaai every year on 25 October, for example by treating visitors to vlaai in our Maastricht Store. In 2017, we also developed the Maastricht Vlaai, comprising five different flavours made by five different bakers. The five flavours were chosen by five well-known Maastricht residents: André Rieu, Cécile Narinx, Tom Dumoulin, the then mayor Annemarie Penn te Strake and folk singer Fabrizio. In 2019, Maastricht’s vlaai bakers joined forces to create a ‘Koningsvlaai’ in the run-up to King’s Day. The King was invited to sample this vlaai during King’s Day in Maastricht in 2021.

"Often bakers in the rest of the country do not venture out to bake flan "
- Robert Uphoff, pastry chef and owner of Maastricht restaurant SoDelicious.

Are you a fan of flan? Then the various flan products we sell in our physical Maastricht Store and webshop are just the thing for you. Our range includes hoodies and t-shirts with a flan theme, cake plates, flan baking kits and more.