Spanish Flan

Although typically associated with Latin American cuisine today, flan originated from the Romans. Back then, there was a large surplus of eggs, so people began mixing and baking them to form a custard-like dish. At first flan was meant to be a savory meal, but it was soon adapted into a sweet dessert. It reached its way to the new world through Christopher Columbus’s journeys and instantly became a hit. Today, it is commonly served as a dessert or snack in Latin American countries, most notably in Mexico. Both rich in flavor and sweet in taste, flan, pronounced with the same vowel sound as in “fawn,” is enjoyed all around the world as a creamy custard dish.

Total cooking time: 2 hrs.

Serving size: 1 large custard

Ingredients:

6 eggs

1 13 oz. can sweetened-condensed milk

2 14 oz. can evaporated milk

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1 cup white sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Beat and whisk the eggs, condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla extract in a bowl.

3. In a large pan, pour all the sugar in and turn the heat to medium-high. DO NOT STIR THE MIXTURE! This process is to caramelize the sugar and disturbing it while it is first doing that will ruin the consistency. Wait until the bottom of the pan turns a brown color and there is still white sugar left on top. Then, gently, mix the caramel in the pan. When the sugar turns completely brown, pour into the bottom of a circular baking dish. Immediately pour the custard mixture on top.

4. Cover the circular baking dish with aluminum foil. Next, put the round baking dish into a larger baking dish. In the larger baking dish, create a water bath by pouring in enough water so that it goes up 1 to 2 inches on the small dish.

5. Place in oven and bake for 1 hr.

6. Remove from the oven and water bath and let chill in the fridge for 45 min.

7. Place a large plate on top of the dish and carefully flip the flan over onto the plate. The caramel should flow out the top and create a sauce for the custard. Serve and enjoy!

~Anni Zhang