Sonia's Favorite Flan
1/2 cup sugar for caramel
A few drops of water
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
5 whole eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Put about 1/2 cup sugar in a metal flan mold or baking pan with a few drops of water. Place mold or pan directly over stove burner and caramelize the sugar until amber and liquid. Using gloves, hold the mold with the melted sugar at an angle and let the caramel run over all the inside surfaces to coat evenly. Set it aside.
Mix the two cans of milk together, adding a little bit of the evaporated milk into the sweet condensed milk a little at a time to make sure it is all evenly incorporated.
Beat the eggs and add into the milk mix by stirring it in, do not beat so you don't get air bubbles. Add the vanilla and stir. If the egg doesn't dissolve completely (if you see little pieces of solid egg white), strain the mix through a fine mesh sieve directly into your flan mold.
Pour (or strain) mixture into caramel-lined mold (*) and cover mold with tight lid or foil.
Place mold in a pan (filled with about two inches of boiling-hot) water,
in a preheated 350oF oven for 1-1/2 hours.
(*) You can purchase a mold especially made for flan which comes with a clamp-on lid. You can find them at Cuban Food Market. Search for Flan Molds.
The ones I have are the 2nd and 3rd one on the site.
Sonia's Notes: For the flan in the photo I used 15 eggs, and 3 cans each evaporated and sweet condensed milk. I used a bundt cake mold which I caramelized directly on the stove. I covered the mold tightly with foil and placed it in a roasting pan half filled with boiling water. It baked au bain marie at 350 F for 1 and a half hour.
