Mastering Flan

It’s called flan, creme caramel or caramel custard. And if you follow these basic cooking techniques, this creamy smooth dessert drenched in a clear golden syrup will be muy bueno, tres bon or very good.

The caramelized syrup must be made by slowly heating granulated sugar until it melts and turns golden brown. Most reference books tell you to stir the sugar, which causes it to become lumpy before liquefying. This technique works, but it takes a long time for the lumps to melt.

We prefer a method shown us by Times Test Kitchen Director Donna Deane. She spreads the sugar evenly in a skillet (do not use an iron skillet) with a well-insulated bottom and sets it over medium-low heat.

Watch carefully as the sugar begins to liquefy. If it doesn’t melt evenly, turn or tilt the pan, but don’t stir. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, stir gently until it turns golden brown.

The caramelized sugar is extremely hot, so pour it carefully over the bottom of the baking dish. Quickly tilt the dish to evenly coat the bottom before the syrup hardens.

One way to ensure a smooth-textured custard is to strain the combined ingredients into the caramel-coated baking dish. Another is to use a hot-water bath to provide a constant, even source of heat and insulate the custard as it bakes.

Use a pan large enough to hold the baking dish with a little clearance on all sides. Place the pan on the oven rack and add about an inch of hot water before adding the filled baking pan.

Over-baking causes custards to shrink, weep and become tough. A custard is done when the center still jiggles slightly and a knife inserted about halfway between the center and edge comes out clean.

Remove the baking dish from the hot water quickly and cool the custard on a wire rack. Refrigerate several hours before turning out onto a platter for serving.

FLAN

3/4 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup water

Spread sugar evenly in bottom of heavy skillet. Cook over medium-low heat, watching carefully and lifting or tilting pan as necessary to melt sugar evenly, until completely melted. Do not stir. Continue cooking, stirring gently, until golden brown.

Pour caramelized sugar into 1-quart baking dish. Tilt to distribute caramel evenly over bottom of dish.

Beat eggs in medium bowl. Add condensed milk and vanilla and blend. Add water and blend. Strain custard mixture into baking dish coated with caramel.

Place dish in larger pan containing 1 inch hot water. Bake at 325 degrees until center jiggles and knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean, about 1 hour 40 minutes.

Remove baking dish from hot water bath and cool on wire rack. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, about 2 hours.

To serve, run thin knife blade around edge of custard. Place serving plate over top and invert custard onto plate. Hold baking dish over plate so caramel drips onto custard.

6 to 8 servings. Each of 8 servings:

269 calories; 95 mg sodium; 123 mg cholesterol; 7 grams fat; 46 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams protein; 0 fiber.