Tuesdays with Dorie & my 100th post

***Updated for picture below***

***Unfortunately you can see that my flan does not appear caramel-topped at all. I'm not sure if I messed up the caramel part of the process, if it had anything to do with using a nonstick pan, or I just needed more caramel. Overall it's a tasty recipe though, certainly not bad, just was looking forward to that little something extra in the caramel topping***

Last week I joined with Tuesday with Dorie after a little gentle prodding from my friend Danielle. Tuesdays with Dorie is a weekly event of sorts where one member of the blogroll picks a recipe out of the Baking From My Home to Yours cookbook by Dorie Greenspan.

This week's featured recipe was for Caramel Topped Flan chosen by Steph from A Whisk and a Spoon. I was going to make it for Easter dessert but I decided not to last minute and save this one for...well...for last minute!

I made this only just tonight and as of right now, since I don't want to be shamefully late for my first TWD post, I can only provide a picture of it fresh out of the oven perched upon a cooling rack. I did, however, get a smidge of a taste of this when I stuck a knife in the first time to check for doneness. I have to say that when I licked the knife clean of the remnants (yes, I admit to being a knife licker) it was quite tasty. I hope to update this with a fresh picture tomorrow once this has had ample time to cool and then chill for the 4 recommended hours.

I'd also like to mention that this is my 100th post! I have really come to enjoy food blogging even though, at the beginning, I was off to a slow start. Once I got myself going, now I find that I just can't stop - kind of like a bag of Lays chips...or was that Pringles?! Either way, I'm looking forward to the next 100!

Caramel Topped Flan


For the Caramel
1/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp water
squirt of fresh lemon juice

For the Flan
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
1-1/4 cups whole milk
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a roasting pan or a 9-x-13-inch baking pan with a double thickness of paper towels. Fill a teakettle with water and put it on to boil; when the water boils, turn off the heat.

Put a metal 8-x-2-inch round cake pan-not a nonstick one-in the oven to heat while you prepare the caramel.

To Make the Caramel: Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice together in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan. Put the pan over medium-high heat and cook until the sugar becomes an amber-colored caramel, about 5 minutes-remove the pan from the heat at the first whiff of smoke.

Remove the cake pan from the oven and, working with oven mitts, pour the caramel into the pan and immediately tilt the pan to spread the caramel evenly over the bottom; set the pan aside.

To Make the Flan: Bring the cream and milk just to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a 2-quart glass measuring cup or in a bowl, whisk together the eggs, yolks and sugar. Whisk vigorously for a minute or two, and then stir in the vanilla. Still whisking, drizzle in about one quarter of the hot liquid-this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they won't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the hot cream and milk. Using a large spoon, skim off the bubbles and foam that you worked up.

Put the caramel-lined cake pan in the roasting pan. Pour the custard into the cake pan and slide the setup into the oven. Very carefully pour enough hot water from the kettle into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. (Don't worry if this sets the cake pan afloat.) Bake the flan for about 35 minutes, or until the top puffs a bit and is golden here and there. A knife inserted into the center of the flan should come out clean.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven, transfer the cake pan to a cooking rack and run a knife between the flan and the sides of the pan to loosen it. Let the flan cool to room temperature on the rack, then loosely cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

When ready to serve, once more, run a knife between the flan and the pan. Choose a rimmed serving platter, place the platter over the cake pan, quickly flip the platter and pan over and remove the cake pan-the flan will shimmy out and the caramel sauce will coat the custard.

Yield: 6 to 8 Servings