Citrus Flan Extraordinaire

Citrus Flan Extraordinaire
by Marc Spahr


INGREDIENTS
Coffee Caramel:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Expresso

Flan:
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 cinnamon stick (4 inches long)
1 tbsp citrus zest (lemon, Mexican lime and/or Orange)
1 tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp nutmeg (fresh, grated)
1 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
3 eggs
1/8 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS
Coffee Caramel:
In a small copper saucepan, mix sugar and coffee. Cook over medium heat, stirring only until sugar is dissolved. Then cook until syrup forms a soft ball when dropped into ice water. (If you have a candy thermometer, this happens at about 238° F) Pour mixture into mold -- a nine-inch round, two-inch deep cake pan works well. Let the syrup set up in refrigerator while making flan.

Flan:
Preheat oven to 325°. In medium saucepan, combine milk, cream, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon stick and zests. Cook until almost boiling on low heat, stirring, constantly. Pour mixture through fine sieve into a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, salt and sugar. Pour milk mixture slowly into egg mixture, whisking constantly.

Remove mold with caramel from refrigerator and pour flan into it. Set this mold inside a larger mold (a ten-inch round cake pan works) filled a quarter of the way up with water. Bake for one hour. Remove from oven and refrigerate for four hours. To serve, loosen edges with a knife and invert onto a platter. Cut flan into eight wedges.