Mexican Flan (Tastes more like Tres Leches cake to me)

  

I got this recipe from a favorite local Mexican restaurant that my family frequents. Just recently, I went there with my parents and as full as they were after the meal they decided to order the flan for dessert. I have never really liked flan but I told my mom I would just have a bite of hers, knowing that I wouldn't be tempted to have more than that. Well, I was wrong. One bite led to another and soon I had probably eaten a third of it. Yes, I was a little embarrased. :) My parents complimented our waiter on how good the flan was, yeah, the waiter...not the cook. I thought that was funny. Of course, usually the waiter has little interest in that sort of thing, they just bring you the food. Anyway, this waiter was pleased and he proceeded to tell us how easy the flan was to make and tried to explain how to make it in his broken English. It was a little hard to understand and follow him. So, I actually learned to make it using You Tube, I just replaced the ingredients with the ones the waiter told me.

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In a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add 3/4 c. granulated sugar (the waiter actually said to use brown sugar...oops, I'll have to try that next time.) As you heat the sugar, stir constantly. In the beginning, it will start to clump together and crystallize a bit. Gradually, it will turn to liquid and when it reaches a light-medium golden color remove from heat. Pour immediately into a 10 inch glass pieplate, and carefully rotate the sugar mixture to coat the bottom (without burning yourself.) ;) Set aside.

Then, mix together:
8 eggs
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk- (low-fat)
1 can Evaporated Milk (low-fat)
1 tsp. vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Pour egg mixture over the sugar in the bottom of a 10" glass pie plate. Place pie plate on a rimmed jelly-roll pan, put in oven. Add  tap water into the jelly-roll pan (or rimmed cookie sheet) enough to leave a layer of water in the bottom of the pan. The water will help steam the flan as it cooks. Bake for 1 hour or until top is golden brown and middle is set. It will still be a little jiggly. (I ended up baking mine for 1 hour and 20-30 minutes. It looked a bit dark on top but was perfectly cooked inside. I will have to try this a few more times to get it down.) Toward the end of the baking time, you may need to add more water to the pan if it has all evaporated.

Let cool, and then refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

Carefully loosen sides of the flan with a spatula. Once all sides are loose, turn over Flan onto a cake plate, preferably one with a little lip to catch the syrup that drips down. Slice into 12-16 pie-shaped wedges. Serve with a little whipped cream on top. Even better, a couple of sliced strawberries! Mmmm...azing! :)

Surprisingly, most of my kids really liked this. It was better than they expected, 2 of them went back for seconds. I'll let you guess which two. ;)

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Waiter's directions: "brown sugar in a bowl, mix everything into the sugar." That doesn't quite work, so I'm guessing he meant to pour the contents over the sugar. ;) Some things must get lost in translation. :)