For a while now I’ve been on and off experimenting with doing purins and flans using pumpkin/kabocha flavoring of some kind now. Fun fact, but purin(Japanese pudding, which is basically flan, or a sweet egg custard with a caramel layer) was the first thing I ever learned how to bake. We did not grow up with any flour in my pantry(the closest thing I had was pancake mix), but when I found out that you can make purin(which by the way, I grew up eating tons of being raised in a Taiwanese household) from just eggs, milk, and sugar, all of which we had in my mom’s pantry, I just had to try it for myself. Eventually, my mom got sick of me using her eggs, and that’s when I wound up learning how to bake vegan desserts instead. But in regards to flan/purin, the ingredient list is extremely simple. Eggs, dairy, sugar, and whatever you’re using to flavor it with. The tricky part is 1000% the technique. Anything that relies on eggs to set/bake, like custards or quiches, requires a low, slow, and delicate bake to ensure even cooking so that nothing is either raw or worse, scrambled. With this flan, it is 100% no different. The other component in flan is the caramel. You have to make a hard caramel by heating up sugar until it is almost burnt, then adding water to that so that you can then pour the caramelized sugar into individual baking molds. A simple custard is then poured on top of the set sugar, the whole thing is baked low and slow, then after letting the custard set for at least an hour in the fridge(this is important or else you’ll end up with sweet scrambled eggs), you can then dip the molds into warm water to loosen up the caramel layer, then flip the flans onto whatever surface you plan to serve it on. To make this flan perfectly in season(and to squeeze out one last pumpkin recipe before we hit December), I used pumpkin for my flan, and caramelized maple syrup instead of sugar. The end result was a creamy, nutty custard with a fragrant caramel that reminded me of pancakes in the morning.

Makes 4 servings:
For the maple caramel:
3oz maple syrup
a pinch of salt
2 tbsp cold water

In a pot, heat the maple and salt to 300 degrees F. Take the pan off heat and carefully add water. Stir the mixture lightly to ensure that the sugar is fully dissolved into the liquid. Line 4 baking cups with a thin layer of cooking spray. Divide the caramel among the 4 cups and allow the caramel to cool before you attempt to add your flan inside.

For the flan:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
4oz pumpkin puree
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

In a pot, heat up the milk, cream, and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. In a bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, eggs, vanilla, and salt. Pour into that the warm milk and whisk until just combined. Pour everything through a sieve to remove lumps. Divide the flan base among the 4 cups. Fill a shallow baking pan with warm water, and place in your 4 cups, making sure that the water doesn’t get into any of the flans. Bake at 350 F for 35 minutes. Allow the flan to fully cool(at least 1 hour in the refrigerator) before running a knife around the edges of the flan to help release it from the tin. Dip the flan tins into warm water, allowing them to sit in that for 1 minute before attempting to invert the flans onto a plate to serve.