Mexican Caramel Flan

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

In a small heavy saucepan stir together 1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook, without stirring, until the mixture begins to turn golden.

Gently swirl the pan and continue to cook until sugar is a golden brown like the color of honey. Don’t allow it to get too dark as sugar can quickly burn. Remove the pan from the heat as soon as the desired color is achieved.

Carefully pour the caramel into the round pan and gently swirl the pan so the caramel coats the bottom evenly. **This should be done quickly as the caramel hardens pretty fast. If the caramel hardens before you have the chance to coat the bottom of the pan, warm up the pan over low heat and tilt.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk gently to combine 4 eggs, 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 1 1/4 cups whole milk and 1 TBSP vanilla extract.

Pour custard into the caramel coated pan and cover it tightly with aluminum foil.

Place the flan pan into a larger baking pan and pour enough warm water to reach about halfway up the pan. This creates a Bain-Marie or water bath that will help cook the custard gently.

Carefully place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Remove the baking pan from the oven and using a kitchen towel or oven mitt carefully lift the flan pan.

Remove the aluminum foil or lid and allow to cool at room temperature. At this point the flan will be a bit jiggly but will continue to set with the remaining heat.

After the flan is cool, cover the pan and refrigerate for 4 hour or overnight.

To un-mold, slide a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen up the flan. Invert a serving platter on top of the flan pan and turn the pan and platter over. When the flan is released, carefully lift off the flan pan. The caramel should be at the bottom of the platter.