Flan - Basic Recipe

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour 1 cup of sugar into a small sauce pan and set over medium heat. You will need to constantly stir the mixture making sure that it doesn't start to burn. Eventually it will begin to clump and become harder to stir. Keep stirring until it becomes entirely liquid. Make sure the color remains light brown. If it becomes too dark, it will taste burnt. Remember you can lift the pan to remove it from the heat periodically if the mixture is in danger of burning.

2. 2

   Once the sugar is liquid, pour it slowly into the 6 flan dishes until the bottom is coated completely.

3. 3

   Mix the eggs and 3/4 cup of sugar together in your mixing bowl until sugar is dissolved and the egg yolks completely disappear. Add the sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk slowly while continuing to mix. Add the vanilla extract and mix for another few minutes until smooth. Pour this mixture into your flan dishes but not to the top. Fill your boiling dish or large baking dish with about an inch of hot tap water. Place the smaller dishes into the water bath and check the water level. You want the water to cover about 3/4 of the outside of the small flan dishes but you want to make sure the water level isn't so high that the water will splash around. Trust me, taking it out of the oven will be tricky if you don't pay attention here.

4. 4

   Place the flan in the water bath into the oven on the center rack and bake for 30 minutes max, checking the flan frequently. If it starts to brown on top, remove it from the oven. Let it cool enough to place the flan in the refrigerator. Cover the individual dishes with plastic wrap and place them in the refrigerator for at least two hours.

5. 5

   To serve, take a small knife or spoon and run it around the edge of the dishes to loosen the flan. Then turn the flan dishes upside down onto a dessert plate and they should pop right out. The caramel should run out last so you can make sure everything is completely coated. Enjoy!

No additional tips available.