TWD - Caramel Flan

I’ve been flanning to write this update all day but I didn’t take a real lunch at work and I can’t do any blogging on the clock. So…better late than never, right kids?

Pretty much every TWD entry thus far has required that I purchase some sort of kitchen gadget in order to prepare the recipe. I’m not complaining; I love to buy kitchen gadgets. However, I wasn’t sure I’d like flan and I have no room for a roasting pan so I figured I’d do the smaller portion version. However, I also own no ramekins and while I know I’d use them, I didn’t feel like buying them yesterday. I was feeling tired, especially after the meeting we had with hubs friend who sales life insurance ::yawn:: and I told myself I’d only make the recipe if I had what I needed at home. I had exactly 5 eggs, exactly the right amount of cream and 8 foil cupcake liners. So, I was in.

I used the liners and a 9x13 pan to make my flan. The only bad thing was that I could have used a few more liners and ended up tossing out some of the liquefied custard since I had no other proper container once the liners were full. Bummer, since I really liked how this recipe turned out. Will I make this every week? Nope. Will I make it once in a while? Heck yeah!

Before yesterday I knew the following about flan:
My Poppy liked to eat it. (He also liked to eat tapioca so that’s not really a good thing)
It jiggles.
It has eggs in it.
You can get a tummy ache if you eat the flan from Panchos.

What I know about flan today:
It is pretty easy to make.
People have strong feelings about flan.
It has a silky smooth texture and a hint of vanilla.
I like it!

Thanks to Steph at A Whisk and a Spoon for choosing this week. Plan to flan and check out what how other TWD peeps fared this week.

My camera died while downloading pics so I only got the preparation ones. Come back later tonight for the money shot. The picture is now up^^.



For the Caramel
1/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp watersquirt of fresh lemon juice

For the Flan
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
1-1/4 cups whole milk
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a roasting pan or a 9-x-13-inch baking pan with a double thickness of paper towels. Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils, turn off the heat.Put a metal 8-x-2-inch round cake pan-not a nonstick one-in the oven to heat while you prepare the caramel.

To Make the Caramel: Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice together in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Put the pan over medium-high heat and cook until the sugar becomes an amber-colored caramel, about 5 minutes-remove the pan from the heat at the first whiff of smoke.Remove the cake pan from the oven and, working with oven mitts, pour the caramel into the pan and immediately tilt the pan to spread the caramel evenly over the bottom; set the pan aside.

Notice the uneven portions.

To Make the Flan: Bring the cream and milk just to a boil.Meanwhile, in a 2-quart glass measuring cup or in a bowl, whisk together the eggs, yolks and sugar. Whisk vigorously for a minute or two, and then stir in the vanilla. Still whisking, drizzle in about one quarter of the hot liquid-this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they won't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the hot cream and milk. Using a large spoon, skim off the bubbles and foam that you worked up.

Leftover and trashed :(

Put the caramel-lined cake pan in the roasting pan. Pour the custard into the cake pan and slide the setup into the oven. Very carefully pour enough hot water from the kettle into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. (Don't worry if this sets the cake pan afloat.) Bake the flan for about 35 minutes, or until the top puffs a bit and is golden here and there. A knife inserted into the center of the flan should come out clean.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven, transfer the cake pan to a cooking rack and run a knife between the flan and the sides of the pan to loosen it. Let the flan cool to room temperature on the rack, then loosely cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.When ready to serve, once more, run a knife between the flan and the pan. Choose a rimmed serving platter, place the platter over the cake pan, quickly flip the platter and pan over and remove the cake pan-the flan will shimmy out and the caramel sauce will coat the custard.

Yield: 6 to 8 Servings