Brazilian Style Flan

I'd never made flan before so, when Shane requested it for his birthday (Oct. 12) I was a bit nervous. Luckily, though, it turned out to be surprisingly easy using this Epicurious community recipe (thanks, angelheart04!).

The hardest part is maintaining patience while waiting for the sugar to caramelize. Over low heat, it took me a good 35 minutes to achieve a light golden color. After that though, it was a piece of cake -- or, slice of flan?

And the taste? Cool, creamy, rich -- flantastic.

Brazilian Style Flan
1 Cup sugar
1/2 Cup water
1 (14oz)Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
3 Eggs
2 Cups milk
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract (optional)

In a small pan, combine sugar and water, and boil rapidly until a light golden color.
Pour sugar into the pan of your choice, my husband likes when I use a bunt-pan but the curves make it a little trickier. Any basic pie pan will due. Coat the bottom and sides. Let cool; it will be hard set.

*TIP: The easiest way to ruin your flan is by burning your sugar. Take your time and use a lower heat so the sugar wont come out too hard.

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. In a bowl, mix condensed milk, eggs & milk together. Add the vanilla now if using; mix batter well.

Place pie dish into a large roasting pan and set on oven rack. Pour flan mixture into the pie dish, then add enough hot water to the roasting pan so that the water comes halfway up sides of pie dish. The flan shouldn't float. Bake flan in water bath for 90 minutes, until set in center. Let cool, then cover and chill overnight.
The flan can be made a couple days ahead.

To serve:
Run a knife (or even better, a rubber spatula) around the edges to loosen. Place a serving plate that's a little bigger than the pie pan on top of the pie pan, and flip upside down. Gently remove the pie pan and cut the flan into sliced portions to serve.