Recipe: Four-Milk Flan

FOUR-MILK FLAN

1 1/2 (1.5) cups sugar
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 cans (12-ounces each) evaporated milk
1 cup regular milk
1/2 (.5) cup half-and-half
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat a large light-colored skillet over medium heat. When the pan is hot, reduce the heat to low and add the sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is melted and amber-colored, about 10 minutes. Immediately and carefully pour this syrup into a shallow 2-quart baking dish and set aside to cool.

Place the remaining ingredients in the bowl of a mixer. Beat on medium speed for 5 minutes. Pour this mixture over the cooled syrup.

Place the baking dish in a larger pan, set it in the center of the oven, and pour water into the larger pan to come about halfway up the sides of the baking dish holding the flan.

Bake until the top is golden brown and the custard is somewhat set, 45 to 60 minutes. (The flan will jiggle when first out of the oven but get firmer after refrigeration.) Remove from the oven and cool completely. Refrigerate the flan until firm or overnight.

Unmold onto a serving platter and scrape any remaining syrup from the pan onto the flan. Slice to serve.

Serves 12
Excerpted from Giving Thanks by Kathleen Curtin, Sandra L. Oliver, and Plimoth Plantation
Copyright 2005 by Kathleen Curtin, Sandra L. Oliver, and Plimoth Plantation. Excerpted by permission of Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.