cook like james

Traditional Flan

½ cup sugar

3 tablespoons water

2 large eggs, at room temperature

3 large egg yolks, at room temperature

¼ teaspoon grated zest from 1 lemon

1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounce)

1 ¼ cups milk (2% or whole)

1.    Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Place a kitchen towel in the bottom of a baking dish or roasting pan. Lightly grease six 6 ounce ramekins and place them on the towel.

2.    Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan, over medium high heat, swirling the pan gently, until the sugar has dissolved and has a light golden color (300 degrees on an instant read thermometer), about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has caramelized to a deep, dark mahogany color (350 degrees on thermometer), 3 to 5 minutes. Carefully and slowly divide the caramel into the ramekins, being careful not to splash caramel onto yourself or outside of the ramekins, and cool slightly until hardened.

3.    Meanwhile, whisk the whole eggs and egg yolks together in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Whisk in the zest, sweetened condensed milk, and milk. Pour the mixture into the ramekins, and gently place the roasting pan on the oven rack. Being careful not to splash any water inside the pan of custard, pour the boiling water into the roasting pan until the water reaches halfway up the side of the ramekins. Bake until the center of the custard is just barely set, no longer sloshes in ramekin, and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center registers 170 to 175 degrees, 25 to 30 minutes (start checking the temperature after 25 minutes).

4.    Carefully remove the roasting pan from the oven and carefully transfer the ramekins to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Wrap the cake ramekins with plastic wrap and refrigerate the custard until completely chilled, at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

5.    Run a knife around the ramekins to loosen the custard. Invert a serving plate over the top of the ramekin and quickly flip the custard onto the plate, drizzling any extra caramel sauce over the top (some caramel will remain stuck in the ramekin). Serve immediately.