It’s almost Thanksgiving and we all love to pig out when this beautiful time of year arrives. However, there is always this one family gathering where you have to contribute something for the meal: a potato salad, a bottle of wine, some hors d’oeuvres or some type of sweet dish to finish dinner, hint hint. I always go for the last option because sweets are the best part of any meal and there are so many possibilities out there that you could easily impress your friends and family with an elaborate, elegant dessert recipe, such as this one.
So, without further ado, I present to you this amazing Pumpkin Spice Flan recipe, because let’s be real, there can never be enough Pumpkin Spice anything. My experience making this flan can be summarized in four words: everyone always loves it. Even people who hate pumpkin are impressed! The taste is sweet and cinnamon-y, and the texture is as creamy as all flans in this life should be. If you’ve never tasted flan, don’t believe the people that tell you “It’s like Latinx cheesecake.” Oh, honey, no. Flan is an incomparable experience. It is the queen of all desserts. It’s that fancy. The fancy quality, however, is due to how difficult it can be to make, especially when you can burn the caramel topping so easily. I will teach you how not to do that though, so you can have bragging rights at whichever Thanksgiving party you decide to bring this to.
On a side note: I think this recipe is pretty much post-hurricane friendly. Most of the ingredients can be found canned and the remaining others are almost always easy to find. However, this can vary if your oven is gas powered or electric and if you have some sort of refrigeration method.
Pumpkin Spice Flan
Preparation time:
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1 hr. with 30 mins. approx. Serves: 10-15
Level of Difficulty:
- It’s pretty difficult, but you’re a strong, independent, brilliant woman who can bake whatever she wishes!
You will need:
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A regular sized boiling pot
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2 medium to large bowls to mix ingredients
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*12 in. x 3 in. large baking pan (this will be used to cook the flan en baño de Maria)
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*9 in. x 2 in. round baking pan
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**10 in. plate
*Preferably this size, but any other baking pan with similar dimensions will do.
IMPORTANT: The pan with the flan mixture HAS to fit completely into the bigger pan in order to correctly cook it with the baño de Maria.
**The plate should be a bit deep because the liquid caramel will lay as a puddle around the flan when it’s done.
For flan mixture:
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4 large eggs
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1 can of condensed milk
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1 can of evaporated milk
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1/2 can of pumpkin purée (if you’ve never heard of this particular ingredient, you can find it in the baking aisle of your nearest supermarket)
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1 teaspoon of vanilla
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1 teaspoon of cinnamon
For the caramel syrup:
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1/2 cup of white sugar
To bake:
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Enough water to fill half of the 12 in. baking pan.
Steps:
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Preheat oven to 350°F.
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Pour the white sugar into the boiling pot. Turn the heat to medium and use a spoon to evenly distribute the sugar regularly. Do not, I repeat, do not leave the sugar unattended because you will burn it if you do. Regularly moving around the sugar in the pot is crucial in order to successfully cook it. This step could take from 10 to 20 minutes.
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When the sugar starts turning into caramel, slightly turn down the heat and concentrate on moving the sugars that haven’t been cooked to the bottom of the pot. When you see that all of it is fully caramelized, turn off the heat immediately.
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Pour the caramel into the baking pan quickly. Make sure you fill the entire bottom of the pan. Put aside.
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Next is the flan mixture. In the medium mixing bowl, beat in the four eggs along with the condensed milk and the evaporated milk. Mix thoroughly.
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In a separate medium bowl, mix the half can of pumpkin purée, vanilla, and cinnamon. Pour this mixture into the first one you made. Blend carefully.
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When you’ve finished blending, pour the whole flan mixture into the pan with the caramel bottom. Cracking sounds might suddenly be heard: that is normal (the sounds are caused by the caramel quickly being changed in temperature by the mix).
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Fill half of your 12 in. baking pan with water and place it in the oven. Carefully place the pan with the mix inside the one already in the oven.
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Bake for an hour.
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To make sure it is thoroughly cooked, insert a toothpick in the center of the flan. If it comes out clean with no dripping, it is done.
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Refrigerate 4 hours minimum before serving.
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To properly serve, run a butter knife all around the 9 in. pan to separate the flan from the pan. To make sure the flan is also separated on the bottom of the pan, rotate the pan clockwise and counterclockwise to loosen it up. When it is loose, grab a plate (any paper, plastic, golden or whichever type of plate you have will do as long as it is 9 inches diameter or bigger) and place it over the pan with the flan. Swiftly, turn it upside down and leave it like that until you feel the flan is completely on the plate. If you haven’t felt it go down, you can tap on the bottom a few times to give it the kick it needs to loosen up completely.
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Finally, take the pan out and you should have your Pumpkin Spice Flan ready to serve!
I wish you good luck if you decide to use this recipe! Enjoy and make the best out of your Thanksgiving this year.