Vanilla Lime Flan Food

VANILLA-LIME FLAN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F. Place eight 2/3-cup ramekins or custard cups on work surface. Stir 1 1/3 cups sugar and 1/2 cup water in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat; boil without stirring until syrup turns deep amber, brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan occasionally, about 8 minutes. Immediately pour caramel into ramekins. Using oven mitts as aid, pick up each ramekin and tilt and rotate to coat sides with caramel. Place ramekins in large roasting pan.
• Using back of spoon, mash 1/2 cup sugar and lime peel in large bowl until sugar is moist and fragrant. Add eggs and yolks; whisk to blend. Bring cream and milk to boil in heavy medium saucepan. Gradually whisk cream mixture into egg mixture. Whisk in vanilla and salt. Ladle custard into caramel-lined ramekins. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of ramekins.
• Bake flans until just set and beginning to color on top, about 45 minutes. Remove from water; let cool 45 minutes. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Cut around sides of ramekins to loosen flans. Invert flans onto plates. Garnish with lime slices, if desired.

LIME & CREAM CHEESE FLAN WITH GUAVA SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Blend first 3 ingredients in blender until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla and lime zest; blend until combined. Pour into 9-inch round pan.
• Place filled pan in larger shallow pan. Add enough water to larger pan to come halfway up side of smaller pan.
• Bake 50 min. to 1 hour or until knife inserted in center of flan comes out clean. Cool in water-filled pan. Carefully transfer flan from pan of hot water to wire rack. Cool flan completely.
• Refrigerate flan 4 hours. Meanwhile, bring guava pulp and sugar just to boil in saucepan; cook on medium-low heat 15 min. or until thickened, stirring frequently. Cool completely, then refrigerate until ready to use.
• Serve flan topped with guava sauce.

LIME FLAN WITH CARAMELIZED PINEAPPLE

Steps:

• Make flan:
• Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325°F. Place 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 1 1/2-inch-high sides in oven. Bring lime juice to simmer in small saucepan. Remove from heat; cool.
• Stir sugar and 1/4 cup water in heavy small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil without stirring until deep amber color, occasionally brushing down sides of pan with wet pastry brush and swirling pan, about 6 minutes. Pour hot caramel into hot cake pan; using oven mitts, tilt cake pan to coat bottom evenly. Set aside.
• Stir reduced-fat milk and cornstarch in 1-cup glass measuring cup to blend. Combine condensed milk, lime peel and lime juice in large bowl. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean. Stir to blend. Stir in egg substitute, then cornstarch mixture. Pour custard over caramel in pan. Place cake pan in large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cake pan. Cover roasting pan with foil.
• Bake custard until set around edges and center 4 inches still moves when pan is gently shaken, about 50 minutes (do not overbake or custard will curdle). Transfer cake pan to rack and let flan cool. Cover and refrigerate flan overnight.
• Make pineapple:
• Spray large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray. Place skillet over high heat. Add 8 pineapple slices to skillet and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Drizzle 1 tablespoon lime juice over pineapple. Using spatula, transfer pineapple to plate. Wipe out skillet, then spray with more nonstick spray. Repeat with remaining 8 pineapple slices and 1 tablespoon lime juice. Cut pineapple slices diagonally in half. Sprinkle with chopped mint.
• Run small knife around cake pan sides to loosen flan. Invert flan onto platter. Cut into wedges; serve with pineapple.

VANILLA FLAN

Steps:

• Put 1/2 cup of the sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until it begins to melt and turns brown around the edges. Pull the melted sugar around the edges toward the center of the un-melted sugar with a heatproof rubber spatula. Continue cooking, pulling the melted sugar, until all the sugar is melted and the caramel is uniformly dark amber (it should smell caramelly but not burnt), 10 to 12 minutes total. (If you still have undissolved lumps of sugar, stir it off heat until melted.) Pour the caramel into 8-by-2-inch deep cake pan in an even layer, 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep. Let the caramel cool; it will crack as it cools and that's ok.
• Bring the cream, milk and vanilla bean to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from the heat and steep for 30 minutes.
• Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
• Put the eggs, salt and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a blender and puree on low speed until smooth and the sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute.
• Strain the cream mixture into the egg mixture and blend at low speed to combine, discarding any solids. Skim the foam off the top and transfer to the prepared baking dish. Remove any remaining foam from the top and cover the dish tightly with foil.
• Line a roasting pan with a clean kitchen towel; this will keep the baking dish from sliding and it will insulate the flan, preventing it from overcooking. Set the baking dish on a towel and pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it comes halfway up the sides of the baking dish; the flan should not be floating. Bake the flan until it looks set like gelatin(it will wobble when gently shaken), 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, remove the foil and let cool. Cover the dish with plastic and refrigerate until set and cold, at least 3 hours and up to 24.
• When ready to serve, run a paring knife around the edges of the flan to loosen. Invert it onto a platter. Serve cold. The flan can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Unmold and serve.