we’ve had a few pumpkins sitting in the window for a while and i wanted to use them up this week!
we were planning a FIESTA menu for dinner on friday night- thought it might be a nice change from thanksgiving leftovers… so i looked up a flan recipe and found one using pumpkin. perfect!
this was my first attempt at flan-ning. it was pretty easy and turned out REALLY GREAT. nothing to be scared of!
i roasted one large and one smaller pumpkin- but i probably just needed to do the big one. ran the pumpkin meat through the processor. scooped 3 1/2 c. of pumpkin puree (and saved the rest for this sunday’s yogurt!). added 3 teas. cinnamon, 1/2 teas. nutmeg, 1/2 teas. salt, a sprinkle of clove and a good bit of fresh grated ginger.
made a caramel using 2 c. sugar in a dry, heavy bottomed pan. let the sugar burn over low heat until it was dark and caramelized. then poured that into the bottom of a warm casserole dish (the flan pan!)
for the custard: warmed 3 c. heavy cream with 2 c. milk and a good bit of vanilla bean paste. whisked the warm milk mix into 10 eggs and 2 yolks. added the spiced puree to the custard mix and poured the whole business over the caramel.
baked the whole thing, covered, for over an hour, in a water bath… once the center of the custard had just a slight jiggle, we called it done and stuck her into the fridge overnight.
the next morning, ran a knife around the edge of the casserole and flipped it quick onto a tray. the custard popped right out, covered in caramel!
i prefer it to pumpkin pie! the custard is rich in flavor, and light and creamy like a mousse! YUM!
Salivating over this photo. Pumpkin n caramel together sounds like a healthy marriage. Wow.
That looks too good for words!