Caramel Flan

A dear friend gave me this recipe that her husband makes and he makes the best Flan in the world. It is so smooth and has so much "flan" flavor because of the caramel, yet the caramel is just boiled-down sugar. This is not a hard dessert to do; it just sounds involved.

• Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins
• Yields: 1 1/2 quart dish

Ingredients

• SAUCE

• 3⁄4 cup sugar

• FLAN

• 2  cups milk
• 2  cups  light cream
• 6  eggs
• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 2  teaspoons vanilla

Directions

1. SAUCE:
2. Place the 3/4 cup of sugar in a large skillet and cook over medium heat till sugar melts and forms a light brown syrup; stir to blend.
3. While this is happening, in the oven heat an 8 1/4" round, shallow baking dish.
4. After the above sugar become a syrup, immediately pour it into the heated dish and holding the dish with a pot holder, quickly rotate to cover bottom and sides completely.
5. Set aside.
6. FLAN:
7. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees so that it is ready for you.
8. In a medium saucepan put the milk and cream and heat just till bubbles form around the edge of pan.
9. In a large bowl whisk the eggs.
10. Add the 1/2 cup sugar, salt, vanilla; mix well.
11. Gradually stir the hot milk mixture into this, stirring all the while.
12. Pour into the prepared dish with the syrup.
13. Set dish in shallow pan and pour boiling water around it to 1/2" deep.
14. Bake in the 325 oven for 35-40 minutes or until a silver knife comes out clean.
15. Let cool.
16. Then refrigerate for a least 4 hours or better overnight.
17. To serve, run a spatula around edge of dish to loosen.
18. Invert on shallow serving dish with a lip to catch the syrup.
19. Gently shake to release and hold the dish over the flan for a couple of minutes to get as much syrup dripped out as you can.