Pumpkin Flan

My partner's favorite dessert is flan, or a caramel egg custard. I stumbled upon a recipe for pumpkin flan just in time for Thanksgiving.

I found the original loaded-with-dairy recipe in a Latina magazine. It was easy enough to modify it to make it dairy-free, and my guests preferred the dairy-free version!

Ingredients
1-2/3 cup sugar, divided
1 can coconut milk
1 can pureed pumpkin
5 large eggs
1/2 tsp cinnamon, ginger & nutmeg
1/4 tsp clove & allspice
1 tsp Mexican vanilla
boiling water for the water bath for baking


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small pan, melt 1/3 cup white granulated sugar on medium heat. The sugar will become a caramel-colored syrup. Remove from the heat and immediately pour into baking dish about the size of a 9" pie pan. I have a slightly taller pan with a lip (from a double boiler) that has become my "flan pan."

Blend or mix the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Pour the pumpkin mixture over the (hardened) syrup in the baking dish.

Place the pan with the flan inside a larger baking dish with tall sides. Then set both pans on the shelf in the oven, and then fill the larger pan with HOT water. The level of hot water should be as high as the flan mixture in the smaller pan, so the entire flan is immersed the hot water bath. Carefully close the oven and bake for approximately 40-50 minutes.

OR if you have ramekins, you can bake individual-size flans. You will need extra melted sugar to pour into each ramekin. Then fill with flan mixture and place in the hot water bath. Baking times will vary.

Check to see if the flan is done by inserting a knife in the middle. If the knife comes out clean, then it's done, but it will still be jiggly in the middle. Do not over bake. Very carefully remove the pans from the oven and lift the flan pan out of the HOT water. Let the flan cool completely. (If you can't wait that long, which often we can't, it's not the end of the world to serve it warm.)

When ready to serve, place the bottom of the flan pan in hot water to ensure that the caramel syrup is melted. Then run a knife around the edges of the pan. Remove from the hot water and invert onto a serving dish with a lip. The caramel syrup will run over the top and down the sides.

Happy Thanksgiving!