For the caramel: (If used, see Note)
1 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of water
For the Custard
6 eggs
2 cans (15 oz. each) of sweetened condensed milk
3 cups of whole milk or evaporated milk (either one – I used evaporated)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/8 teaspoon of salt
For the caramel
Dissolve ingredients in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat. Cook and swirl instead of stirring
(if you get tired of that, go ahead and stir – I did) until sugar caramelizes, about
10 minutes.
Pour caramel into a 9-inch cake pan (or individual ovenproof custard dishes), swirling
slowly to cover the bottom evenly. It will immediately harden. Set aside.
Note: If you want to skip the caramelized sugar step, simply pour a purchased caramel
sauce or real maple syrup over the top of each chilled serving.
For the custard:
Put oven rack at lower third of the oven, heat to 350 degrees. Have a teakettle
of hot water prepared to pour around the custard container(s).
Beat eggs well; add the milks slowly. Beat in vanilla and salt until well combined.
Strain through a fine sieve into the caramel pan, cover pan or custard dishes with
foil. (Note: I didn’t bother to strain the mixture, and it was very smooth.)
Place pan or custard dishes into a larger baking pan; place in lower oven rack.
Pour boiling water into the larger pan, letting the water come about 1 inch up the
sides.
Bake until flan is set, about two hours (or less if using individual custard cups).
Carefully remove from water bath.
Cool, refrigerate.
When ready to serve, run a knife around the edge of the flan, unmold onto a plate
or serving platter, watch that the caramel doesn’t run off the edge.
A maker of flan asked on the Internet: “How do you get the bit of hard caramel out of the dish after unmolding?” Easy: just let it sit with cold water in it; it’ll dissolve.
A flan is a egg-rich custard, smooth as satin, not too sweet, served cold with its
own (or applied later) sauce of caramelized sugar. It is a favorite in Mexico, Spain,
and other Latin countries.
The container (9-inch cake pan or 9-inch pie plate, or as many smaller ramekins as
it takes for the mixture) in which it is baked needs to be placed in a larger ovenproof
container, and hot water poured around it to keep it from baking too fast, sort
of like a “double-boiler,” only in the oven.
When you chose the container to cook the flan in, be sure you have a larger container
to set it in.