Spanish Flan

My whole life my mother made Spanish Flan.  Living in the part of the south that is steeped in Latin traditions, we ate a lot of Spanish foods.  

However, recently I tasted a flan that might have been better then what my mother used to make.  This recipe originally was published in the newspaper. I'm sorry to say I don't know when it was published to give proper credit.  However after taking one bite of this Flan, I had to have the recipe.  So here it is for your enjoyment.  Believe me, once you taste this Flan, you will forever compare it for smoothness and creamy taste.

Sylvia Alvarez's Flan De La Habana

1 cup sugar                                     1 teaspoon vanilla

6 egg yolks                                      1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk                                    1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese

1 can evaporated milk                      4 egg whites

1 can sweetened condensed milk       3/4 cup sugar

Put 1 cup sugar in a heavy pan and heat to medium to medium high heat. Stir constantly until sugar starts to melt and turns a light golden brown.  Be careful because this mixture gets very hot.

Quickly pour the caramelized sugar into a 2 to 2 1/2 quart Corningware dish or glass pan. Tilt and turn the pan to coat with the hot caramel.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Whisk together egg yolks, 3/4 cup milk, evaporated and condensed milks, vanilla and salt in a large bowl.  Put softened cream cheese, egg whites and 3/4 cup sugar in a blender and blend until creamy.  Pour contents into yolk mixture and mix thoroughly.  Pour into caramelized pan.

Place pan in a larger one and add water about the depth of flan pan.

Bake about 90 minutes.  Flan is done when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool completely.  Place in refrigerator and chill at least 3 hours.  Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loose.  Place serving dish over the pan and flip.  Scrape any caramel in the pan and pour over flan.  Serve 8 to 10.

Foodie  Friday
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