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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nFlan is pure nostalgia for me. My Tex-Mex mom made it often, blending all the milk and eggs in a blender, agonizing over the caramel, and then shrieking if it unmolded with a crack in the center. Kid-me didn\u2019t care about the aesthetics of the flan, I just wanted to taste the custard on my tongue. For my birthday, we\u2019d stick candles in it and watch \u2019em jiggle. I\u2019d wash it down with, like, 14 Dr Peppers. I had a sophisticated palate.<\/p>\n Nowadays I spend the holidays with my sister. We always make flan for Christmas dessert because it\u2019s so light and airy after a heavy meal. After our mom died, we searched for her recipes but only found bits and pieces. (Lessons in grief<\/a> \u2014 you\u2019re always trying to fill in the blanks. You won\u2019t, but you\u2019ll damn sure try.)<\/p>\n Thankfully, we\u2019ve finally found a recipe that solves my mom\u2019s broken flan woes. This recipe, from the brilliant Nik Sharma and his wonderful cookbook The Flavor Equation<\/a>, makes the smoothest, most perfect flan I\u2019ve ever had, and I\u2019ve searched far and wide. When we first nailed the flan, we shrieked with delight. (I love making flan with someone else because when you flip the pan, you want another person to cheer when it thwomps out perfectly in a pool of caramel.)<\/p>\n Nik Sharma grew up with a similar \u201ccaramel pudding\u201d in India, he writes in his cookbook, sweetened with jaggery and eaten on hot Bombay summer days. In his book, he walks through each recipe\u2019s techniques, and they\u2019re as educational as they are foolproof and delicious. If you\u2019re a fan of Cook\u2019s Illustrated<\/em>-level food science nerdiness, buy the dang book! It\u2019s amazing.<\/p>\n So, what makes a perfect flan?<\/strong> In The Flavor Equation<\/em> version, you can infuse the milk with toasted hazelnuts. I did that one year, and it was lovely and subtle, but the nostalgia in me prefers it milky and simple. Sharma also suggests using hazelnut creamer, and it got me thinking about the untapped baking uses of coffee creamers.<\/p>\n Anyway, onto the flan. <\/p>\n Holiday Flan<\/strong> \u00bc teaspoon cream of tartar Make the caramel:<\/strong> Baking prep:<\/strong> Make the custard:<\/strong> Crack the eggs into a large bowl and use a spatula to break the yolks and gently stir the eggs \u2014 this tip from Sharma is game-changing because if you rigorously whisk them you\u2019ll create dreaded air bubbles in the flan. We want silky smooth. Slowly add just \u00bd cup of the warm milk mixture, incorporating it gently with the spatula. Slow motion flan. Enjoy the process. Keep adding the milk in segments, slowly, until it\u2019s all incorporated. If any lumps happened, strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve. <\/p>\n Assemble and bake:<\/strong> Place the flan on the wire rack inside the baking dish and pour the boiling water from the kettle into the baking dish until it\u2019s halfway up the flan pan\u2019s sides. (If I need more water, I put the kettle back on and add it to the pan in the oven.) Carefully transfer the baking dish of boiling water and precious flan to the oven and bake for 45 to 60 minutes. Peel back the foil to see if the custard is set and has a slight jiggle (too much jiggle = it\u2019s watery, keep baking). <\/p>\n Use mitts to remove the flan pan from the baking dish and let it cool somewhere in the kitchen. Refrigerate overnight (covered with foil) so it really sets. <\/p>\n Flip n\u2019 serve:<\/strong> Slice and serve. A little sherry would be nice. <\/p>\n P.S. 10 wonderful holiday rituals<\/a> and three no-fuss recipes to make during the holidays<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"easy](\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Whole-Flan-scaled.jpg\")
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* The caramel will be golden amber. Not too light. Not too dark. Be impatient or patient, depending on your nature.
* Cream of tartar will help the caramel from crystallizing due to science (please don\u2019t ask me to explain it).
* The custard will be smooth, not full of air bubbles. Every step of the way, stir like you\u2019re moving in slow motion. No blenders here.
* The custard should be set but not firm. Start checking after 45 minutes.
* Bain-marie is necessary, sorry. Yes, it\u2019s annoying to pour boiling water into a baking pan and all that, but it\u2019s what cooks the custard to its smoothest potential.
* It\u2019s homemade. A cracked, bubbly flan is still perfect if you made it for me.<\/p>\n![\"best](\"https:\/\/cupofjo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/served-flan-scaled.jpg\")
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Recipe adapted from \u201cHazelnut Flan\u201d in Nik Sharma\u2019s The Flavor Equation<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n
\u00be cup sugar (150 grams)
2 cups whole milk
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
\u00bc teaspoon salt
4 large eggs<\/p>\n
In a small saucepan, combine \u00bc cup water and cream of tartar, and pour the sugar in the center (Sharma\u2019s great tip to avoid it sticking to the pan sides). Cook over medium-high heat until the sugar starts to caramelize, 6-8 minutes. When it looks like your ideal shade of caramel, a moody amber in my case, pour it into an 8-inch round cake pan and quickly rotate the pan so the caramel coats the bottom. <\/p>\n
Preheat the oven to 325\u00b0F and put a kettle or a pot of water on to boil. Dig out a 13\u201d x 9\u201d baking dish that\u2019ll fit your cake pan, and a wire rack to fit inside it. (Or get crafty with foil or a kitchen towel<\/a>, just something to keep the cake pan elevated.)<\/p>\n
Clean out your trusty caramel saucepan and fill it with the milk, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and salt. Warm it up over medium-high but don\u2019t let it boil. We don\u2019t want milk skin. Remove the pan from the heat. <\/p>\n
The caramel hardened in the cake pan, isn\u2019t that cool? For even more perfect flan insurance, hold the spatula over the caramel and slowwwwly pour the custard over it like a milk waterfall. Cover the cake pan with two layers of foil to make sure it\u2019s fully covered. <\/p>\n
Remove the foil and carefully run a long, sharp knife around the edges. Place a rimmed plate\/platter over the flan dish and tell your sister to start filming. Get both hands on the dish and quickly flip it. Tap the bottom of the flan dish to let the flan know its time has come. Slowly lift the pan and marvel at your beautiful creation. Use a spatula to remove any remaining caramel in the pan.<\/p>\n