flan

Mely Martínez’s Mexican flan is a smooth egg-and-milk custard turned out over its caramel coating. Her selected contemporary recipe uses sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk, with vanilla and optional cream cheese.

Sugar is cooked until it becomes a light-brown caramel, then swirled across the bottom of the baking dish and left to cool. Water is an optional aid for this stage; Martínez also describes making the caramel with sugar alone.

The eggs, canned milks and vanilla are blended into a smooth mixture, with cream cheese added if desired. The custard is poured slowly into the caramel-lined dish, which is covered with foil.

The covered dish sits inside a larger pan containing warm water and bakes until the flan looks firm. After cooling, a knife loosens the custard from the edges, and a serving plate is used to invert it without spilling the liquid caramel.

The flan is sliced for serving, with Martínez suggesting café de olla alongside it. Sliced strawberries or a scoop of dulce de leche are separate optional pairings, while adding cream cheese makes the custard richer.