Panamanian Vanilla Flan Recipes

Steps:

• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Combine cream, milk and salt in heavy medium saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into cream mixture; add bean. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and let steep 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine 1 cup sugar and 1/3 cup water in another heavy medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and cook without stirring until syrup turns deep amber, brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan occasionally, about 10 minutes. Quickly pour caramel into six 3/4-cup ramekins or custard cups. Using oven mitts as aid, immediately tilt each ramekin to coat sides. Set ramekins into 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
• Whisk eggs, egg yolks and 7 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl just until blended. Gradually and gently whisk cream mixture into egg mixture without creating lots of foam. Pour custard through small sieve into prepared ramekins, dividing evenly (mixture will fill ramekins). Pour enough hot water into baking pan to come halfway up sides of ramekins.
• Bake until centers of flans are gently set, about 40 minutes. Transfer flans to rack and cool. Chill until cold, about 2 hours. Cover and chill overnight. (Can be made 2 days ahead.)
• To serve, run small sharp knife around flan to loosen. Turn over onto plate. Shake gently to release flan. Carefully lift off ramekin allowing caramel syrup to run over flan. Repeat with remaining flans and serve.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Place a 9-inch metal pie dish into a deep baking pan; pour boiling water into baking pan to reach about halfway up the side of the pie dish.
• Pour 1 teaspoon water and 1/2 cup sugar into a heavy saucepan, place over medium heat, and constantly swirl the sugar-water mixture in the pan over the heat until sugar dissolves, melts, and turns into a golden-brown caramel syrup, about 10 minutes. Watch carefully, the sugar burns easily. Pour melted caramel into the warmed pie dish and gently tilt pie dish to coat the bottom with caramel.
• Whisk egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, 1/4 cup sugar, and vanilla extract in a bowl until mixture is creamy and thoroughly combined. If mixture is foamy, skim foam off with a folded paper towel. Gently pour custard over caramel in pie dish. Cover baking pan with aluminum foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven until custard is set but still jiggles slightly when moved, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove foil and place baking sheet with water bath and flan in refrigerator to chill, about 2 hours.
• Remove pie dish from baking pan; run a knife around the edges of flan to loosen from pie dish. Invert flan onto a rimmed serving platter to release custard and let caramel sauce flow over the flan.

Steps:

• In a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar begins to melt. Using a pastry brush dipped in cold water, wash down the sides of the pan to eliminate sugar crystals. Cook, without stirring, until amber brown, about 25 minutes., Quickly pour into an ungreased 9-in. round baking pan, tilting to coat bottom of pan. Place pan in a large baking pan; let stand for 10 minutes., Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325°. In a blender, combine eggs, condensed milk, evaporated milk, and vanilla. Cover and process 1 minute or until well blended. Slowly pour into prepared baking pan., Add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan. Bake, uncovered, 35-40 minutes or until center is just set (mixture will jiggle). Remove baking pan from water bath; cool 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate overnight., To serve flan, run a knife around edge of pan; quickly invert onto a rimmed serving dish.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• In a small heavy saucepan bring water and sugar to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil syrup, without stirring, until golden caramel. Pour caramel into a 1 1/2-quart soufflé dish, tilting dish to coat bottom and some of side with caramel.
• In a large bowl whisk together eggs, condensed milk, skim milk, and vanilla until smooth. Pour mixture through a fine sieve into soufflé dish. Put dish in a baking pan and add enough hot water to pan to reach halfway up side of dish. Bake flan in middle of oven 1 1/4 hours, or until just set but still trembles slightly. (Flan will set as it cools.) Remove flan from pan and cool in dish on a rack. Chill flan, covered, until cold, at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.
• Dip dish in a baking pan of hot water 3 seconds. Run a thin knife around edge of dish and invert flan onto plate.

Steps:

• Put 1/2 cup of the sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until it begins to melt and turns brown around the edges. Pull the melted sugar around the edges toward the center of the un-melted sugar with a heatproof rubber spatula. Continue cooking, pulling the melted sugar, until all the sugar is melted and the caramel is uniformly dark amber (it should smell caramelly but not burnt), 10 to 12 minutes total. (If you still have undissolved lumps of sugar, stir it off heat until melted.) Pour the caramel into 8-by-2-inch deep cake pan in an even layer, 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep. Let the caramel cool; it will crack as it cools and that's ok.
• Bring the cream, milk and vanilla bean to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat and steep for 30 minutes.
• Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
• Put the eggs, salt and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a blender and puree on low speed until smooth and the sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute.
• Strain the cream mixture into the egg mixture and blend at low speed to combine, discarding any solids. Skim the foam off the top and transfer to the prepared baking dish. Remove any remaining foam from the top and cover the dish tightly with foil.
• Line a roasting pan with a clean kitchen towel; this will keep the baking dish from sliding and it will insulate the flan, preventing it from overcooking. Set the baking dish on a towel and pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it comes halfway up the sides of the baking dish; the flan should not be floating. Bake the flan until it looks set like gelatin(it will wobble when gently shaken), 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, remove the foil and let cool. Cover the dish with plastic and refrigerate until set and cold, at least 3 hours and up to 24.
• When ready to serve, run a paring knife around the edges of the flan to loosen. Invert it onto a platter. Serve cold. The flan can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Unmold and serve.