Amazing Baked Flan

My bestfriend came into town for a visit this week and I decided to host a little dinner party while she was here. We made chicken molé tostadas with guacamole and cabbage cilantro slaw, but the best part of the meal was probably these homemade flan. So good and so easy.

The Goods:

• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 5 eggs
• Seeds from one vanilla bean, or 1.5tsp vanilla extract

The Deal:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a small nonstick saucepan, heat the sugar and water over medium heat. Stir occasionally until sugar is dissolved and begins to brown. You want a nice deep amber color. Spoon a small amount into eight 4 ounce ramekins. Swirl to coat bottom.

In a large bowl, hopefully one with a pouring spout and handle (like a batter bowl), combine sweetened condensed milk, cream, milk, eggs and vanilla. Pour custard mix into ramekins over the caramel.

Place the filled ramekins into a larger pan and add 1 inch of HOT water to the outer pan. Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes, or until set. Half way through cooking you might want to cover with a cookie sheet if the tops of the custards are getting too brown. Cool in refrigerator until chilled. Use a butter knife to cut around edges of each ramekin to loosen custards and turn out onto plates.