Puding Caramel - a flan worthy of being a family favourite !

I have always seen myself as totally lousy at baking, making 'kuih' or even desserts. But, friends of mine have on number of occasions tried to convince me otherwise. I remember Diyana & Rashidah (Ada) and even Rusminah (Rose) saying to me " Resipi yang paling senang K.Ainal.. blend jer !! " Sure, jadi ... I've never tried it in Shah Alam becos as usual, mana ada masa.. ! Now that I've all the time in the world, I tried once in Boston and the pyrex dish I used exploded ! Haa... right inside my kuali (wok ) which I used as part of my equipment for kukus (steaming). So I gave up until I read this article by Aleta Watson in the San Jose Mercury News recently. She mentions that it is a staple dessert in countless Spanish and latin American Restaurants. All the while, I thought it's Malaysian! Well... because of the secret ingredients, of course... evaporated and condensed milk! Which is nothing fancy.. We call it Puding Caramel but Aleta named it Alicia's Flan...after her friend whom she says learned to make it from a woman she stayed with during an educational exchange in Spain. The only problem was the recipe was in Alicia's head, macam Diyana, Ada and Rose ... I guess because it's so simple. Anyway, with Alicia cooking and Aleta taking notes they came up with a recipe that is sure to work every time. It worked for me ! So try it, if you haven't done it yet...

ALICIA'S FLAN

Ingredients - serves 10-12
6 large eggs
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar

Method
1. Place eggs in 5-cup blender jar and whirl 10seconds. Pour in condensed milk and whirl 10seconds. Add evaporated milk and whirl 10seconds. Fill empty condensed milk can with water. Add vanilla and enough water to fill blender jar to brim. Whirl on low speed a couple of seconds. Set aside while you make the caramel.
2. Place sugar in 10-inch skillet and over medium-low heat, tilting pan now and again to help sugar melt evenly, until it liquifies and turns golden brown, about 5 minutes. Do not stir as it will be clumpy. Watch mixture carefully as it cooks to avoid burning. Don't ever put in any liquid such as water!!
3. Carefully pour caramelised sugar into a 1 1/2- quart souffle dish. Slowly pour egg and milk mixture from blender over caramel. Seal dish or flan pan tightly with foil and place in roasting pan or soup pot large enough to hold dish and cover with lid.
4. Pour water into larger pan to a level about a third of the way up the dish. Cover pan with lid and bring water to boil on stove. Reduce heat to simmer and cook, covered, one hour.
5. Remove dish from water bath and let cool. Refrigerate overnight and turn upside-down on a plate to unmold and serve. must be well-chilled to unmold in one piece.
Note:
I don't have a 'periuk kukus' so I use a round metal cake mould placed on top of a small metal rack which is put inside a wok. I cover the whole thing with the 'wok's cover'. If you don't have the metal rack use something, - like empty milk cans - that can raise up the mould so that it doesn't touch the water bath but still low enough to be covered.