I gave a birthday party recently for two of my friends, one of whom had mentioned that she particularly enjoyed flan.
So, there was no question that flan would be our party dessert.
The history of flan is interesting. Flan has been enjoyed for more than 2000 years. Food historians believe that the dish became popular during Roman times when chickens were first domesticated and there was suddenly an egg surplus. What to do with all those eggs? Obviously, you make eggy flan.
The first Roman flans were savory ones. Eel flan (yuck!) was particularly popular, but it is believed that the Roman cooks also made a sweet flan flavored with honey. As the Roman Empire expanded, cooks in far away places began to put their own touches on flan. The Spanish popularized a flan topped with caramelized sugar –a variation for which we should bow down and be forever grateful. The British, on the other hand, put the egg custard into a pastry crust–also a very good idea.
Today, flan is most often served as an egg custard sauced with a deep amber “burnt” sugar. New York Times’ food writer Julia Moskin once described the magic that happens in your mouth when you taste a flan as “poetry.” That pretty much sums up the way I feel about that first delicious taste of a really good flan.
This excellent flan recipe adds in some cream cheese to the usual ingredients. I reasoned that the cream cheese might make the chances of my success with the dish a bit more solid.
Here is my friend Sarah, one of the birthday divas, schmoozing with Juliet, Blue Cayenne’s Chief Quality Officer, at the birthday party. Paparazzi-shy Norma, the other good friend whose birthday we were celebrating, seemed to dip her head whenever I was nearby with my camera. So, you will have to take my word that she looked fabulous in her birthday tiara, too.
By the way, the Romans considered flan to be a health food. Don’t even try to argue with that. They knew poetry when they ate it.
Serves 10
Save RecipeIngredients
- 3/4 C. sugar
- 8 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
- 5 large eggs
- 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
- 1 t. vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Prepare the caramelized sugar by putting the sugar into a heavy saucepan heated over medium-low heat. Stir. Once the sugar begins to dissolve, DO NOT stir it any further. To do so will ruin your caramel. Instead, tilt the saucepan to move the sugar syrup around in the pan as you watch the sugar change to a dark amber color. You can use a brush dipped into water to brush around the sides of the saucepan to dissolve any sugar crystals that begin to form while your caramel is cooking. It will take from 10-15 minutes for the sugar to caramelize. Be sure to watch the sugar carefully and constantly during this process. You can burn the sugar in an instant. When the sugar is an amber color, take the saucepan off the heat and pour it into the un-greased pan or dish in which you plan to bake your flan. (I used a glass loaf pan.) As you pour the caramelized sugar into the pan, tilt the plan to distribute the caramelized sugar over the bottom of the dish. Let the sugar mixture sit for about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, mix your cream cheese until it is smooth. I used my stand mixer. Then, add the eggs one at a time--beating after each addition. Add the sweetened condensed milk, the evaporated milk, and the vanilla to the mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour this mixture over the caramelized sugar in the pan you have prepared.
- Set this pan inside a larger baking dish. (I used a large glass lasagna pan.) Boil some water and pour it into the larger pan until it reaches a depth of about 1 inch.
- Bake your flan in the water bath at 350 degrees F. for 50-60 minutes. Your flan is done when the mixture is set (the center of the flan should jiggle).
- Remove the flan from the larger pan and cool on a wire rack for about an hour. Refrigerate overnight.
- When you are ready to serve the flan, remove it from the refrigerator and run a knife around the edges of the flan. Cover the flan with a large plate. Invert the flan over the dish. Enjoy. Be sure to spoon a lot of the amber sugar sauce over each person's portion of flan.
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This recipe is an adaptation of one that ran on the Taste of Home site. Here is the link: Creamy Caramel Flan Recipe.
