Alejandra's Flan Recipe

Baby Leah and Me

Alejandra is a family friend, huge Food Network fan and my little baby cousin Leah's Nanny. 

She is an incredible cook, ( I will be posting her out of this world recipe for ceviche soon) and she kindly shared her family recipe for flan with me. I couldn't get enough of it.   

 Flan is a traditional Mexican custard but there are many different versions. This recipe is perfect for a novice or expert.

Alejandra's Flan Recipe

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Ingredients:

   1 & 1/2 cup of sugar

   6 large eggs

   1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk

   2 13oz cans of evaporated milk

   1 teaspoon of vanilla

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. You will need 6 ramekins or other specialty flan cook ware and a large baking dish to place them in.

Pour 1 cup of sugar in a warm pan over medium heat. Stir the sugar constantly until it browns and becomes caramel. ** Be careful when dealing with warm sugar because if it gets on you skin it can burn you badly.**

Quickly pour approximately 2-3 tablespoons of caramel in each ramekin. Tilt and swirl the caramel around the sides. Reheat the caramel if it starts to harden. 

In a mixer or with a whisk, blend the eggs together. Mix in the condensed and evaporated milks. 

Then slowly mix in the 1/2 cup of sugar, then the vanilla. Blend smooth after each ingredient is added.

Pour custard into caramel lined ramekins.

Place ramekins in a large glass or ceramic baking dish and fill with about 1- 2 inches of hot water. **This technique is called a Bain Marie.**

Bake for 45 minutes in the water bath and check with a knife a little to the side of the center. If the knife comes out clean, it's ready.

Remove and let cool. Let each ramekin cool in refrigerator for 1 hour. 

Invert each ramekin onto a small plate, the caramel sauce will flow over the custard.

Enjoy.