Easy Pumpkin Flan

Submitted by the80srule

"Most flans are so labor intensive, this one is relatively easy. The original recipe I found in an e-book didn't call for the pumpkin and spice, which I added. It said "1 1/2 cans water" and that can mean anything but the cup of pumpkin moistened it up nicely!"

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 6
• Yields: 8 large slices
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• CARAMEL BASE

• 1 cup sugar

• CUSTARD

• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

directions

1. Make the caramel sauce by sprinkling the sugar around evenly in a clean frying pan, and cooking it over medium heat until it turns brown.
2. Do not stir until all the sugar has melted and become a brown syrup and pour into a 9" pie pan, thoroughly coating all sides of it.
3. In another bowl, whip the eggs together then all the other custard ingredients. Pour into the pie pan.
4. Fill a 10" pie pan halfway with warm water, and place the filled pie pan inside it.
5. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes or until set.
6. Let cool for 20 minutes, carefully loosen the edges with a butter knife, then invert onto a large serving plate.

Reviews

[cynthreab]

I admit - I am not Latina and have not routinely been fed flan. But I have eaten it different places, so I do consider myself somewhat knowledgeable about this dessert. I also have an penchant for flan, especially pumpkin or sweet potato flan, and have made either on several occasions.<br/><br/>My first comment is about the caramelization of the sugar. It is a tricky beast and following this instruction would result in burnt sugar (yuck!). I did try to do it this way, but I had to take it off the stove before the sugar did burn, so it was not quite syrup; there were quite a bit of crystals still there. So, my caramelized sugar didn't spread on the bottom of the pan or the sides, but instead, sort of congealed in sections and only on the bottom. (And I do use a Mexican sugar called Zulka; I like the morena - which is good, because it is the only store I know of in the metro area that sells it!) My recommendation: caramelize the sugar in the oven in the pan you plan to use. (Of course, like any sugar, you have to watch it like a hawk!)<br/><br/>I also used less sugar than called for in the recipe - partially because I like to put some sugar in the custard. So I only used a little more than 1/2 c. sugar for the caramelization...<br/><br/>I only then modified the custard, adding about 1/3 c. sugar. I don't have pumpkin pie spice, so just put in cinnamon and allspice. I accidentally put clove in instead of nutmeg and purposely used ginger paste in lieu of powder.<br/><br/>Unfortunately, the "easy bake" (my Velos, which has a convection bake, but does not, I think, reach the correct temperature; I need to calibrate the doggone thing) failed to finish baking in 45 minutes - even though I thought I could not fit about a quarter cup of custard into the glass quiche pan I had used - so I didn't try - and there was therefore less flan to bake which, one would imagine, would have taken less time.<br/><br/>After an additional 30 minutes or so, I took it out, ran a butter knife around the sides, and turned it upside down onto a dinner plate. It came out a bit lopsided, but it slid right out of the pan with no problem whatsoever (and which is why I always do this right after it came out of the oven).<br/><br/>Gotta say that it was very tasty, and, although a bit eggy tasting, quite delicious (and definitely more flan-like than pumpkin pie-like). It was definitely a time saver, too, and is worth any pumpkin flan-lover's time and ingredients!