Mama Llora's Flan

In the smith house, it was always a big deal when mom made flan. It always seemed like some kind of mystical process that I would never master, and it would take my mom a LONNNNNG (in a kid's eyes) time. Every person who has a mother knows what I'm talking about. That one recipe that no matter how simple it actually is you never think you can make it right. That some kind of mom power is needed to create it perfectly. For me its Flan, the Llora family recipe handed down from my grandmother to my mother and then she gave it to me. (Its not as dramatic as it sounds I called her one day and asked for it.)

Mama Llora's Flan

Evaporated Milk (one can)
Condensed milk (one can)
Whole milk (after emptying the condensed milk can, fill that can to get how much whole milk you need)
Eggs (4)
Vanilla
Lemon Zest (opt)

1. gently break the eggs up with a fork, carefully. Dont incorporate any air into them
2. using a 2-1 ratio of water to sugar make caramel and coat the sides and bottom of the pan you will bake with. Let it cool to a hard crack on the pan
3. mix the milks together, like the eggs dont incorporate any air
4. Incorporate eggs into the milk mix (once again let me repeat. NO AIR)
5. Strain the mixture into the pan
6. put in waterbath and bake at 350 degrees f. for one hour (cover the top of it with tin foil)
7. remove the tin foil and bake for another half hour
8. Cool completely (overnight in the fridge if you can)
9. Put the serving plate over the top and flip it over. Make sure that the serving plate can contain the "juice" from the dissolved caramel. Thats the sauce and its tasty. Dont lose that!

First time I made it....well I didnt make the caramel dark enough, and I didnt make ENOUGH of it. So I'll fix that next time. The custard itself came out fine, but unfortunately didnt have that lovely brown top that I always equate with flan in my head. So...technically....yea, it still needs mystical mom mojo to make it but hopefully you'll have better luck and learn from my mistake. I'll try it again soon enough XD