Coffee flan, the no-recipe recipe

What is flan? It is hard to explain to an American what's the difference between custard and flan. Similar? yes, the same thing? no. My recommendation whenever someone tells me that they are not sure what the difference is... try it!

Now, making flan for real might look difficult and it involves eggs, which some people find scary. This is why this no-recipe recipe, that I got from my friend Pablo, works perfectly for beginners. Why? You buy the flan package from the store, give it a twist and... the result? amazing!

 

The secret ingredients for this flan are instant coffee and heavy cream. The first gives it a kick of intensity and the latter makes it more creamy and soft. 

1 envelope of flan mix (Goya is the most easily found in the US)

1 tablespoon instant coffee powder

1 cup of heavy cream

1 cup of milk*

1/2 cup sugar to melt

1 Tablespoon water

*The ratio of milk to cream is totally up to you! If you're not worried about the calories, the cream definitely improves the texture!

Add the sugar and tablespoon of water in a pan at low and stir constantly until the sugar melts and looks like caramel. Something like this...

  

Add a little bit of caramel to the bottom of each ramekin. Believe me, this is not something that you want to burn yourself with (I did many years ago), so be careful! 

Set the ramekins with the caramel aside. On a pot, bring the milk, heavy cream, flan mix and coffee powder to a boil while stirring. Turn off the heat and pour the liquid in the ramekins. Let cool down for a while on the counter, then transfer to the fridge. I recommend letting them sit about 24 hr. This way the caramel gets flavored by the coffee... how good does that sound?