Spanish Orange Flan
The very best orange flan is made in Murcia and Valencia Spain, but now guests can enjoy it when ever and where ever, with this so smooth and delicious Spanish specialty.
Ingredients:
6 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks, beaten
2 cups whole milk
2 cups fresh squeezed orange juice
1 cup granulated sugar for the flan, plus ½ cup to caramelize for the topping
1 tablespoon orange zest
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 orange, with slices cut in half for garnish
Fresh mint garnish
Directions:
Make the caramelized topping for the flan. In a small pan put the ½ cup sugar on medium low heat and watch it slowly melt. Stir until it turns a golden brown and pour it into a large ceramic and ovenproof serving bowl. Tilt the bowl and roll the sugar all around to completely coat all sides with the caramel. Do it a couple of times. As the sugar starts to cool it will coat the bowl even better. Allow the remainder to rest at the bottom and set aside to cool.
In a medium saucepan heat the milk, orange juice, orange zest, and cinnamon to a simmer. Remove and cool down to room temperature in a medium bowl. By the time the milk and orange juice cools down, the milk will have formed a skin, so pour the milk through a strainer into a large mixing bowl. In a separate medium bowl whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks and sugar. Add the egg mixture to the cooled milk and orange liquid, whisking well. Pour it slowly into the ovenproof bowl with the caramelized sugar. Make sure the mixture is cooled enough or it will melt and dislodge the caramel coating.
Place a high-sided pan in the lower third of the oven and remove any racks above it. Place the serving bowl in the center of the pan, and pour boiling water about 1” deep into the pan surrounding the bowl. Turn the heat to 300ºF. (150ºC.) and bake for 1½ hours until a thin knife comes out clean. Carefully lift out the flan first and set aside to cool. Then remove the pan with the water and discard the water. The flan can be served warm, but it still needs to cool down a bit before inverting onto a serving platter. When ready to turn out the flan (before refrigerating) place the serving platter inverted over flan, and with one careful movement, hold the platter tightly to the dish and invert both. The flan should easily drop onto the platter. Now the flan can be served warm or chilled. Decorate with orange slices and fresh mint.
Correspondences:
The eggs and milk are of water. The sugar and mint are of air. The orange juice is water of fire, and the orange zest is of fire with the cinnamon.
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