Where Did Flan Come From?

                   

          It's a story with twists and turns and starts with chickens. The Romans were the first to domesticate chickens. Finding themselves with a big egg surplus, the Romans stole, make that borrowed, from the Greeks to develop new egg-based recipes. Early versions of flan were savory not sweet. 

          Somewhere along the way, someone tossed honey in the pot instead of fish flakes and sweet flan was born. Romans conquered basically all of Europe, and their customs, beliefs, and recipes went with them. Sweet flan enchanted the newly vanquished lands and when the Roman Empire fell in 476 AD, flan survived.

          Of all the peoples introduced to this dessert, the Spanish loved the stuff and were the first to add burnt sugar caramel. Like the Romans before them, the Spaniards brought flan to new lands. And in 1518, famous Cortés the conquistador landed in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.

          Mexican cooks took flan from a simple creamy treat to a whole new level. Coffee, chocolate, coconut and citrus flavors became popular, not just in Mexico, but the rest of Latin America. And here we are … welcome to my favorite recipe for flan. Warning: this recipe is neither low fat, low sugar or low calorie. 

          Ingredients

         1 cup white sugar

         1 cup 2% milk

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

3 eggs

3 egg yolks

1/4 cup no pulp orange juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup heavy cream

         

        Directions

         Place sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar melts and turns a golden amber color, about 10 minutes. Keep a close eye, once syrup begins to change color, it burns easily. Carefully pour the melted sugar syrup into a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. It will harden as it cools. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

         Pour milk, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, egg yolks, orange juice, vanilla extract, and cornstarch into blender. Blend on low for a minute, just until the mixture is smooth. Pour in the cream, and pulse several times to incorporate the cream. Pour the mixture over the cooled caramel syrup in the loaf pan.

         Line a roasting pan with a damp kitchen towel. Place the flan mold on the towel, inside roasting pan, and place roasting pan on oven rack. Fill roasting pan with hot tap water halfway up the sides of the loaf pan.

         Bake in the preheated oven until the center of the flan is set but still slightly jiggly when moved, 40-50 minutes. Let the flan cool to room temp, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours. To serve, run a sharp paring knife around the inside of the pan to release the flan. Invert a plate on the pan, flip it over, and gently remove the loaf pan to release the flan. Syrupy caramel topping will pour out naturally. Serve in slices.