Flan! Ain't It Gran?

Rosie is in the enviable position of having extra egg yolks awaiting me in the refrigerator. 

Previously, I had made a meringue and berry concoction as my homage to spring.  Hey, we had one day when the temps hovered at 70° and I was feeling... "springy."
It was quite well-received.




















 I used just the whites to make some meringues.  Then I added some berries and whipped cream to it, making a light, lovely, and 'licious dessert.  And that's why I have leftover yolks.



Leftover yolks...  What to do?

My thoughts immediately turned to custard and Rosie's Gran' Flan. 
 





















Rosie's Gran' Flan

4 egg yolks, room temperature

1 egg, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup skim milk

1/2 vanilla bean, scraped

For caramel:

9 TB sugar

6 TB water

Heat oven to 300°.

For the caramel, combine water and sugar in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, without stirring, and simmer until golden.  Working quickly (It helps to have a second set of hands.), pour caramel into ramekins and swirl to coat sides and base.  Place ramekins in 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

I used 4 large (1cup)  ramekins and 1 smaller (1/2 cup) ramekin. 

For the custard, combine cream and skim.  Slice down a vanilla bean and scrape the seeds out into the milk.  Throw in the bean.  Bring to a bubble, not a boil, and remove bean.  

Beat yolks and egg until thickened and lemon-colored.  Gradually beat in sugar until light and foamy.  Slowly pour in hot milk, constantly whisking.  You don't want to scramble the eggs here.

Pour custard mix into ramekins.  Pour boiling water halfway up the sides.  This is officially a bain Marie.  And you should've placed the pan with the ramekins in the oven before pouring boiling water in it.

Bake in 300° oven for 55-60 minutes or until set.

Let cool, run a knife around the outside, and invert onto plate.

And enjoy one of the finest desserts ever invented.

This is about the color of the caramel you want.
Remember, the caramel continues cooking when you take it off the heat, so err on the side of caution.

See the different colors of caramel?
The darker caramel is where I went back and poured more caramel into the ramekins.  The caramel had continued to cook.

Ramekins with caramel are waiting in the background.
My custard ingredients:
 1 1/2 cups cream
 1/2 cup skim milk
 3/4 cup sugar
 4 yolks
 1 egg
1/2 vanilla bean

You want your eggs light and lemony before you start adding the sugar.

Custards ready for the oven.

And here are my happy little custards.
Let cool.

Run a knife around the inside and invert onto plate.
Let the caramel ooze out.
Enjoy!

Can I just tell you how happy my mouth is?
This FEELS so good!