Spanish Flan

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. You will need a 9″ circular cake pan and a deep baking pan (which will hold the cake pan).
2. Place the cake pan (metal preferably) in the baking sheet and add boiling water just before it reaches the top of the sheet, about halfway up.
3. Prepare the caramel. To a medium heated saucepan, add the water and sugar. Constantly swirl the pan around the burner until the sugar dissolves (sugar will go from liquid to crystalized and to a deep caramel color). Please make sure not to burn the caramel. Once you have reached the caramel (golden) color, add to the pie pan and swirl until the bottom is covered. The heat from the cake pan will allow you to evenly coat the bottom of your pie pan just before the caramel hardens.
4. In a blender or with a whisk/deep mixing bowl, add the flan ingredients on low (you don’t want to create a lot of bubbles but you want the eggs to be fully mixed). Should you have a lot of foam on top, strain through a cheese cloth or take a folded napkin and skim off (doing this will give you velvety smooth flan without air pockets).
5. Pour the custard into the caramel-lined pan. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour in the water bath. Check to see if the custard is set by placing a finger on top of the custard or jiggling slightly to see if it moves ever so slightly just like you are making jello. Once ready, take the water bath and custard out of the oven. Place the custard in the refrigerator and let cool (foil removed) for about 2 hours.
6. Upon cooling, run a knife round the edges to help loosen the custard, then invert the pie pan onto a rimmed plated into which the caramel sauce will flow over.
7. Cut into slices and enjoy!