ALMOND FLAN

Almond Flan image

Provided by Tom Gilliland

Categories Blender Dairy Egg Nut Dessert Bake Cinco de Mayo Vegetarian Pescatarian Wheat/Gluten-Free Peanut Free Soy Free Kosher

Yield Makes 8 to 12 slices

Number Of Ingredients 7

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup blanched, slivered almonds
1 1/2 (14-ounce) cans Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
1 cup whole milk
3 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla extract*

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place oven rack in middle position. Put sugar in a round 9-by-3-inch cake pan. Using a heavy oven mitt or tongs, place the pan directly over medium heat to caramelize the sugar. Heat until the sugar liquefies, about 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Do not touch the melted sugar - it will cause serious burns. When the hot liquid in the pan is a golden brown color, remove from heat and set aside on a rack to cool and harden.
In a blender, combine the almonds, condensed milk, whole milk, eggs, yolks, and vanilla. Process on medium speed until well blended. Pour custard mixture over the prepared caramel. Place the cake pan in a larger, deeper pan and pour about an inch of hot water around the cake pan to make a water bath. Cover the flan loosely with a foil tent and place the larger pan on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until flan is set in the center (it will no longer jiggle). Remove from the oven and cool on a rack at room temperature. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 1 hour.
To serve, run a knife or thin spatula around the edge of the flan to release it from the sides of the pan. Place a 10-inch (or larger) serving platter on top of the pan. Turn the platter over and gently remove the cake pan, leaving flan on the serving platter. Using a flexible spatula, scrape up as much of the caramel as possible from the bottom of the pan and pour over the flan. Cut into triangular wedges and serve.