What I've loved most about this Hispanic Heritage Month is that I've been enjoying the most delicious dishes of our Latino gastronomy. Making 21 different recipes, some of which I tried for the first time, gave me the opportunity to experiment with different flavors and ingredients. It also gave me the certainty that our cuisines have much in common. One of them is, no doubt, flan. Keep reading for more of this wonder and a recipe for this delicious custard as prepared in Panama.
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In Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay flan is usually eaten with dulce de leche. In Venezuela and Brazil, it's prepared with condensed milk and is called quesillo and pudin de leite condensado, respectively. In the Dominican Republic it's also called quesillo, but they add coconut. In Puerto Rico, they add coconut cream to their flan de coco. In Cuba they call it flan de Cuba and enhance the flavor with a cinnamon stick. So many different types of flan! The Panamanian version, below, is as delicious as can be:
__Caramel flan
__Makes 6 servings
__Ingredients
__1 can of evaporated milk
6 eggs
3 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2/3 cup of sugar
3/4 cup sugar for the caramel
3/4 cup of water
__Preparation
__1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Put 3/4 cup of sugar with the water in the mold where you will bake the flan. Cook on the stove until a golden caramel is formed. Reserve.
3. In a bowl, whisk the milk, eggs, vanilla and the remaining sugar.
4. Add the milk and egg mixture into the mold wit the caramel.
5. Pour the milk-egg mixture in the baking mold with the caramel and put in the oven inside another baking dish filled halfway with water.
6. Bake for an hour until the custard has completely curdled.
7. Let cool completely and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
8. Turn onto a plate, before serving.
For more of my recipes, visit my cooking blog.
Image via Thinkstock
