My First Flan!

I am not much of a dessert person, and truth be told, flan is never one of those desserts that I think about ordering, much less making... well... ever. If I am going to indulge, it's going to be in some form of chocolate in most cases. But perhaps like most, I just haven't had good, homemade flan.... until tapas class that is.

Forget that gelatinous gutter funk you are used to ordering in restaurants and perish the thought of (gasp!) flan in a box(!) Thanks to Monika it's so easy to make. So let's get crackin', shall we?

Preheat oven to 350F. Arrange 6 small ramekins, custard cups, drinking glasses, what have you in a baking pan.

For the caramel: In the heaviest bottomed saucepan you have, melt 1/2 a cup of sugar over highish heat, stirring occassionally with a wooden spoon, until it's, well, caramel! Be sure to watch it. To cool, add some liquid: water, orange juice... I used mango passionfruit juice, Kevin used cranberry juice, it was all good. Divide this mixture into your ramekins, or one large dish if preferred.

Scald 2 cups of heavy cream plus 1 cup of milk (not non-fat). Add mixture to 1/2 cup of sugar, 4 eggs plus 2 yolks that you have mixed together with vanilla. I also added some cinammon. Pour the mixture over the caramel and bake in a water bath at 350 F until just set, about 30 minutes. I think the expression used in class was "Beyonce not JLo". Basically, a little jiggle is good as the flan will continue to set as it cools. Place them in the fridge to chill for a couple hours.

To serve: run a small knife around flan to loosen. Turn over onto plate. Shake gently to release flan, allowing caramel to runneth over.

Eat and savor.

Here is my first attempt at flan....



that was served to these freaks....



P.S. By the way, melted sugar=liquid hot magma, don't stick your finger in it like I did. Ouch!