Kahlua Flan

I completed the last in the series of 5 cooking classes that I signed up for through the co-op. It was a Southwestern Fiesta class. Chef Gigi was our instructor and once again, she shared recipes for some amazing dishes. I’m going to start this series off with dessert. I’ve never been a huge flan fan, but I have on several occasions taken a bite or two of someone else’s plate at a restaurant. I think the addition of Kahlua has changed my mind about flan. Never in a million years would I have thought it would be a fairly easy dessert to make at home.

The Ingredients:

3/4 Cup Sugar
4 Large Eggs
1 (14 oz.) Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 (12 oz.) Can of Evaporated Milk
2 Tablespoons Kahlua
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon Freshly Grated Nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (A tip Chef Gigi shared – Do not use a convection oven for flan or cheesecake baking – the fan cools them down too much).

In a small saucepan (Heavy and wide = better) – cook the sugar over medium heat until it melts and caramelizes. Do not stir the sugar, just swirl the  sugar by moving the pan. The pan needs to be completely dry and the reason behind not stirring the sugar is because the sugar will crystallize to the spoon – it becomes granular and won’t completely liquify. Once melted, the sugar becomes lava hot. Be very careful when working with it, you do not want the hot sugar touching your skin.

Pour the sugar quickly into a 9″ cake pan and swirl to coat evenly – an Anolon pan w/handles works great for this. Don’t stress if the entire bottom of the pan isn’t coated before it sets – it will harden very quickly, but will melt again in the oven to spread out evenly during baking.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and the condensed milk. Add the evaporated milk and whisk again. Incorporate the remaining ingredients (spices and Kahlua) into the bowl, stir and pour the custard mix into the cake pan.

Place the cake pan into a larger roasting pan and fill with hot water until it reaches halfway up the cake pan. The water bath allows for more even cooking. Be careful when transporting to the oven, you don’t want the custard to slop out or the water to slop in. (yes, very technical terms being used here) – If you want to make individual custard dish size flan desserts, follow the same recipe – including placing the custard cups in a roasting pan of hot water – you will just need to adjust the cooking time. The individual cups will take less time.

Bake until set, about 50 minutes or until the custard is firm, but still slightly jiggles (more technical terms) – it should be similar in consistency to Jello that has been set. Remove the cake pan from the larger pan of water and let cool on a rack for about 30 minutes and then refrigerate for at least two hours. To serve, run a knife along the edges, place a bigger platter over the top of the flan and gently flip the plate and pan over to release it.

Cut into wedges and serve.

The Kahlua flavor was awesome. The flan wasn’t too sweet, it was the perfect pairing to some of the spicier dishes prepared during the class. Chef Gigi also suggested a different add in – freeze dried espresso with a tad bit of hot water mixed in – I bet that would taste great as well.

Are you a flan fan? If not, what desserts do you suggest pairing with southwestern dishes?