Flan de Leche Recipe

How to make it

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• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Place the 1 cup sugar and water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir to dissolve the sugar.
• Place over medium heat and boil the sugar, without stirring, until it just starts to turn a honey brown, around 10-15 minutes.
• Remove the caramelized sugar from heat and pour into a 9-inch cake pan or in equal amounts into each of 6 individual ramekins, swirling to coat the bottom.
• You may not need all the sugar.
• Place the cake pan or ramekins in a baking pan large enough to hold them without touching.
• In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, condensed milk, whole milk or water, vanilla and 1/2 cup sugar until smooth.
• Pour into the cake pan or into each of the ramekins.
• Fill the baking pan with enough warm water to come about 2/3 of the way up sides of the containers.
• Place in the oven and cook until a knife inserted into the center of the custard comes out clean, anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour.
• Do not overcook your flan or it may curdle.
• Remove the custard(s) from the water bath and chill well.
• Run a knife around the edges of the custard, invert over a serving dish and serve.
• VARIATIONS
• - Flan de Café
• (Coffee flan): add 3-4 teaspoons of instant coffee granules to the milk-egg mixture.
• - Flan de Coco (Coconut flan):
• Substitute 2 cups of coconut milk for the sweetened condensed milk.
• Or simply stir 1/2 cup shredded coconut into the milk and egg mixture.
• - Flan de Piña (Pineapple flan):
• Makes 4 servings.
• Caramelize the sugar and pour into containers as above.
• For the liquid, boil one cup of pineapple juice with 1 cup of sugar until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid is reduced to about 1 cup.
• Allow the the juice to cool, then beat in 4 eggs until smooth.
• Pour into individual ramekins and proceed with the recipe.
• About making Flan
• - The basic ratio for a custard is 1 egg to 1 cup liquid with sugar added to taste.
• The liquid used in most recipes varies widely and can be heavy cream, half-and-half, whole milk, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk or coconut milk.
• Mixing these liquids in different amounts is also common.
• Experiment to find the flavor and richness you like best.
• - For a richer, thicker flan, substitute one of the eggs with two egg yolks.