The other night my boyfriend and I where sitting on the coach and he said he was home sick and all he wanted was his mommy’s flan. I was not allowed to look up a recipe or put my own spin on it, I had to get the exact recipe directly from her and no funny business. So, at 10 P.M. my mission started.

EDITED: 12/25/16

Ingredients:

2 Can of condensed milk
1 Can full of water
6 egg yolks
4 whole eggs
1 cup sugar
* vanilla or any extract optional

In a large bowl beat eggs very well and then slowly add milk and water and continue to beat and whisk very well. If you have a mixer or blender that might be more very helpful. Blend together the eggs, then separately blend together the milk and water. Slowly add the milk/water mixture to the egg mixture while mixing together.  In a small pan pour in sugar and melt into a syrup. This will take time, but be patient and continue to stir. Keep the pan at a medium heat and keep stirring and you see a caramel form in about five minutes. ( Note: If you over cook the sugar it will start to clump and form crystals. If the heat is to low the syrup will never form and sugar will turn dark and hard. ) Now take the hot syrup and pour it quickly in to a well sprayed baking dish that is the shape that you want the flan to form. Quickly move the sugar around to cover the bottom. This is hard because it will harden quickly, but its fine if its not perfect because it will melt in the oven. Now pour the egg mixture on top of the syrup in the baking dish.

Set up a water-bath. The picture below will show you how I did it. I filled a large baking pan half way up with water and put it on top of a bigger sheet tray to make it easier to hold. Place the baking dish with the flan in the water bath. BE CAREFULLY not to get any water in the dish.

Bake the whole thing at 350 degree for about 1 hour 15 minutes – 1 hour 30 mins. Keep and eye on it because any temp change will change the cooking time. To check the doneness use a tooth pick and see if it comes out clean.

Remove the whole thing from the oven carefully being careful not to get water in the flan. Allow the flan to cool out side a water bath.

To serve – flip flan onto a flat dish and cut into serving size pieces. Make sure it is completely cooled before flipping.

It came out great but it will never be as good as the one Jay’s mom makes. My next attempt will be with unsweetened fat free condensed milk to see if I can make a guilt free version.