Caramel Flan

Caramel Flan

This is an easy recipe. It does require some time to make though, so start the day before you want to enjoy this dessert. This needs 8 hours to chill, the longer it chills, the creamier it becomes.

You will need:

1 cup white sugar
½ cup bakers’ sugar (superfine)
8 eggs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup 2% milk
1 ½ tsp. vanilla, or 1 tsp. vanilla combined with ½ tsp. almond extract
10” deep dish pie plate

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In an 8”-10” nonstick skillet, place the one cup of sugar, and over medium heat, stir constantly until sugar has melted. It will be the right color as soon as all the sugar has melted. Immediately pour into your pie plate.

Now, put the ½ cup of bakers’ sugar, along with all the other remaining ingredients into a blender, and blend on low speed for 10 to 15 seconds, just long enough to dissolve the sugar. Pour through a strainer, into the baking dish with the caramel.

Put the lid on the dish, and transfer to a baking dish large enough to hold the pie dish. I use the bottom of the broiler pan. Place in the hot oven. Add boiling hot water to the broiling pan, to come half way up the sides of the baking dish.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, depending on the heat of your oven. This will look done, and with a light touch of your finger, feel slightly firm, like a cake that is almost done, but not quite. However, it will still be quite jiggly when you move it, like hot liquid pudding. Don’t be alarmed. This continues to cook from residual heat, and really firms up in the refrigerator, so don’t be alarmed by how jiggly it is. If you cook it more, it will be like rubber when it cools. Trust me; this is the secret to a good creamy flan.

Let cool on a rack, uncovered, then transfer to the refrigerator to completely chill, uncovered.

When ready to serve, run a small knife around the edges, and turn upside down on to a serving platter. Lift off the pie plate and use a spatula to scrape out any remaining caramel onto the custard.

Slice and serve, with a dollop of whipped cream if you like.

This makes 12 servings, or 8 very generous, and gut busting servings.

Decorative clay bakers are meant to be used in the oven. This one, with its top, is the perfect choice for flan. And baked this way, with the top on, produces a perfect caramel. If you don’t have one, you should buy one. 
Do not cool with the top on, or condensation will ruin your flan. Do not cover in the refrigerator either, for the same reason. Once turned out, leftovers should be covered in the refrigerator.