Caramel Flan

This caramel flan dessert was introduced to me by my Mom since I was just a little girl.  I remember she used to have a collection of French dessert recipes in form of index cards that my Dad got for her after they got married. And from there, she had make many delicious treats for us. Whenever I had her flan, I always tried to savor the melt-in-your mouth texture of the custard mixed in with the sweet and slight bitterness of the melted caramel syrup. I just love everything about this simple dessert treat.

Now as a Mom myself, I want to pass on my childhood delight experience with flan to my boys. Luckily, they both also love flan just like I do. Oh, did I mention my hubby is also a big fan of flan? However, his taste for flan is a little different than mine. He likes the thicker and creamier texture like the one you see in the Brazilian flan, while I like it a little bit lighter and more custardy flan. As for my boys, they don't really care, as long as it is flan, they'll love it!

The recipes below I followed from a dear friend of mine. I made some modifications to suit our taste buds and it turns out just heavenly. It brought me back to my childhood flan that I haven't had for a long time. I hope you will give it a try and enjoy it just like I do.

Ingredients: (make about 10 small ramekins)

1. 4 large eggs plus 3 egg yolks
2. 1 & 1/2 cup of heavy cream (or coconut cream)
3. 1 & 1/2 cup of milk
4. 1/2 can of condensed milk (about 7 oz)
5. 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
6. 1 tsp vanilla

For caramel sauce: 1/2 cup of sugar + 1/4 cup water
Dissolve sugar in water and simmer on medium-high heat without stirring until it turns into an amber color. Remove from heat and quickly pour in to coat the bottom of each ramekin. Make sure you move quickly because the sugar will continue to cook and will turn into a darker color very fast.

Combine heavy cream, milk, sugar, and condensed milk in small saucepan. Stir to mix and heat gently on the stove without boiling it. Just heat through enough to dissolve the sugar.  Remove from heat and let it cool slightly.
Whisk eggs and egg yolks in a separate bowl then add the cooled cream and milk mixture into the eggs. Add vanilla and mix gently to combine without making a lot of bubbles. Sieve the mixture slowly into another clean bowl.
Pour the mixture into each ramekin and place them in a water bath of warm water (about 1/2 way up the ramekin mold). Cover loosely with aluminum foil on top and bake at 310F for about 10 minutes then reduce heat to 285F and continue to bake for 45-50 minutes.
Cool the flan completely, and  refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours before serving.

ENJOY!