About Flan:

Flan is an open pastry or sponge cake containing a sweet or savoury filling. A typical flan of this sort is round, with shortcrust pastry.
The British savoury flans may have diverged from the Spanish and French custard flans (also known as crème caramel) in the Middle Ages.[citation needed]. It is similar to a Custard tart which has a topping of nutmeg or a South African melktert, which includes cinnamon.
The English word "flan" and the earlier forms "flaune" and "flawn" come from Old French flaon (modern French flan), in turn from earlyMedieval Latin fladōn-em, derived from Old High German flado, a sort of flat cake, probably from an Indo-European root for "flat" or "broad".

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the custard:

1 cup of Heavy Cream
½ cup of Whole Milk
½ Vanilla Bean, seeds scraped out with a sharp knife
2 Eggs
1 Egg Yolk
Pinch of salt
3 Tbsp of Granulated Sugar

For the Caramel: 


½ cup of Granulated Sugar
3 Tbsp of Water

Method:


1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Fill a tea kettle with water and let it come up to boil. Place 4 (6oz) ramekins in a large roasting dish with high sides and set aside, and spray them with non stick cooking spray.

2) In a small saucepan, add the heavy cream, milk, vanilla bean and a pinch of salt, cook over medium heat until it comes to a simmer then turn it off and let it sit while you work on the caramel.

3) In a saucepan, add the sugar and water DO NOT STIR, cook over medium high heat until the mixture turns a deep amber color, remember you can swirl the pan but never stir. This process might take up to 10 minutes so be patient and do not leave it alone because it can turn from amber color to burned in seconds.

4) Divide the caramel between the 4 ramekins and immediately tilt the ramekins to make sure the whole bottom surface is covered in the caramel.

5) In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk with the 3 tbsp of sugar until they are well mixed. Pour the warm milk mixture into the egg mixture and whisk well to combine. Remove the vanilla bean and divide the mixture between the ramekins.

6) Pour some hot water in your roasting pan up to about half way up the ramekins, bake them for about 35 to 40 minutes or until set.

7) Remove from the water bath and let them chill for a couple hours in the fridge or up to overnight. To serve, run a small paring knife around the edges and tilt upside down on a plate.