SPANISH FLAN ( BAKED CUSTARD)

Steps:

• First have a metal 13 X 9 pan or a little bigger right near you along with two thick oven mitts. Pan must be totaly dry. Next take the two cups sugar and pour into a heavy pot. Do not put anything else in the pot. Turn on the flame to medium high and begin to melt the sugar in the pot. You will need a wooden spoon. You cannot leave the pot unattended. With the wooden spoon start stirring the sugar round and round until it starts to melt completely. Lower the flame if you see the sugar start to turn brown too fast. You want the sugar to turn a dark golden brown. You have to watch closely that the sugar does not burn which can happen fast if you are not carefull. (Note: When I make the sugar caramel for flan I do not like any small children in the kitchen for safety sake and to not distract me.) As soon as the sugar is melted and is a dark golden brown pour into the metal pan. I always have two oven mits right close at hand. As soon as you pour the caramel into the pan put the pan on a cold back burner away from you or the edge of the stove. Put the oven mitts on and with both hands one on each side of the pan begin to coat the pan with the melted sugar by moving the pan to swirl the sugar all around the pan. You have to work fast because the sugar begins to cool fast. Do not try to do this with one hand. Be very carefull to not burn yourself. The pan will get very hot when the melted sugar gets poured into the pan. Once you have coated the pan completely. set it aside. The hard part is over.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and Now the easy part. In a blender add the five eggs, and blend for about half a minute. Next add the the canned milks, and the salt. Blend again on a lower speed so you do not loose your mixture. Blend about a half minute. Add the vanilla and blend again once more for just a moment more. Put on a tea kettle of water to heat if you have one. Or, a pot of water to heat almost to boiling.
• Next pour the flan mixture into the caramel sugar coated pan. Cover very carfully with aluminum foil crimmping the edges all around. Now get a bigger pan like a large lasagna pan and set the pan of flan mixtue inside it. Open your oven and pull out the middle rack halfway. Set your lasagna pan on the the middle rack and pour your hot water inside the lasagna pan. Pour the hot water only half way up the flan pan. Close oven and bake for one hour. this process is call "Bain de Marie" When the hour is up carefully remove the flan from the oven. I leave the hot water pan in the oven until it cools. I also soak the pot where I melted the caramel with water overnight. It washes perfect the next day.
• I leave the flan cool completely and put into the refrigerator overnight. The next day I invert the pan onto a platter. The flan is cut into pieces and is always served cold. With a spoon you scoop up some of the melted caramel sauce and pour over the flan to serve. It is delicious and is a tradition for dessert at our home. This recipe looks hard but it is not. you just have to be carful when making the caramel. this is why I have taken care to explain step by step the preperation process. Enjoy.