Caramenl Flan

Thursday was my husbands birthday.  Since he just had minor surgery on his neck his face was swollen and he was having a hard time eating.  He loves Flan so I made this for him instead of cake.

Flan is easy to make and is delicious.  Basically it is just an egg custard, this one has a caramel sauce.

This can also be made into an almond flavored flan with the addition of almond extract.

Caramel Flan

Caramel

3/4C sugar

1/4 C water

Combine the water and sugar in a heavy sauce pan and cook over moderate heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.  Bring to a boil and boil brushing down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water.  Boil until syrup begins to turn golden.  Continue to boil until the caramel is golden.  Immediately pour into a baking dish.  Swirl the syrup around the baking dish until it coats half way up the sides. Let caramel harden.

 Custard

3C whole milk

1C heavy cream

1C sugar 

5 large eggs

5 large egg yolks

1/4tsp salt

11/2tsp vanilla (for almond flan add 1/2-3/4 tsp almond extract and 1/2 tsp vanilla)

Bring milk and cream to a simmer in a 2 quart sauce pan over moderate heat.

Mean while whisk the eggs, yolks, salt, and the sugar in a large bowl.  Add hot milk a little at a time whisking constantly(be sure to add the hot milk slowly so the eggs don't scramble), then add the vanilla extract.  Pour the custard through a fine mesh sieve into the baking pan. Cover the pan with a double layer of foil.

Put the pan into a larger baking pan and pour enough boiling water into the pan to reach half way up the side of the baking dish.  Bake until a knife inserted into the flan comes out clean, about 11/4 hours.

Remove the baking dish from the water bath, remove foil and cool completely.

Cover flan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hrs.  Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the custard.  Invert a platter over the pan and invert the flan onto the plate.

I use a pie plate or deep sided platter to catch all the caramel syrup.  Garnish with fresh fruit if desired.