Orange-Pumpkin Flan

Squash Combines with Spanish Flan to Create a Sweet Autumn Dessert

Oct 27, 2007

In this custard-based dessert, pumpkin pie (a popular Puritan dish that traces its origins to Colonial America) combines with flan, a traditional Spanish dessert.

Fat and globular as an orange sphere could be, pumpkins are as intertwined with the autumn season as the falling leaves and the shortening daylight hours. But did you know that the word pumpkin, interestingly enough, is not a real botanical classification? The common pumpkin is actually a member of the Cucurbitacaeae family, in the genus Cucurbita (pronounced "kew-CUR-bit-a"), that includes gourds, cucumbers, watermelons and other vine-growing plants. Thus, by botanical classifications, the pumpkin is actually a squash. Since you won't find many individuals willing to sample a piece of homemade "squash pie" at the holidays, you can forgive our political incorrectness at this time of year.

Our fall holidays simply would not be complete without the pumpkin. Why not treat your family and friends to a seasonally-appropriate Orange-Pumpkin Flan? Flan is the name for a Spanish dessert of custard baked in a caramel-coated dish. When the baked custard is inverted, the caramel forms a delicious layer on top.

Orange-Pumpkin Flan Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
3 large eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 15-ounce can (2/3 cup) evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Whipped cream, for garnish (optional)
Cinnamon sticks, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Set out four 6-ounce ceramic or glass custard cups. Fill a large bowl halfway full with ice-water and place it near the stove. (This cold-water bath will prevent the caramel from becoming overcooked.) Combine 2/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup cool water in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, moving the saucepan in a circular motion occasionally, to allow the sugar to dissolve. When the sugar begins to melt, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until the sugar forms a deep golden syrup in the bottom of the pan (about 330 to 340 degrees on a candy thermometer). Don't stir the sugar at this point; stirring will only encourage the sugar to crystallize in the pan. Quickly plunge the bottom of the pan into the bowl with ice-water to cool the caramel slightly then remove the pan from the bowl.
Immediately pour the caramel among the custard cups. Holding the cups with a kitchen towel, carefully tilt the cups to evenly coat the bottoms of the cups with the syrup. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the eggs, pumpkin puree, evaporated milk, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, orange zest and vanilla extract. Divide the mixture evenly among the custard cups. Transfer the custard cups to a 2-quart square baking dish.
Place the baking dish on the center rack in the oven; loosely cover the tops of the custard cups with a sheet of aluminum foil (do not fold or crimp the foil over the tops of the custard cups). Pour very hot water into the bottom of the baking dish so that the water reaches about halfway up the sides of the custard cups. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a thin-blade knife inserted in the centers of the flans comes out clean. Remove the custard cups from the baking dish and pat the bottoms dry with a kitchen towel. Allow the flans to cool slightly on a wire rack. Cover the flans and place in the refrigerator to chill until set about 4 to 24 hours.
To serve, loosen the edges of the flans with a knife, slipping the point of the knife down the sides to let in air. Invert a dessert plate over each flan; turn the custard cup and plate over together. The flans should fall onto the plates with the caramel surrounding the flan. Scrape any remaining caramel from the custard cups over the tops of the flans. Garnish with whipped cream and cinnamon sticks, if desired.

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