Mexican Chocolate Flan Recipe

Now that I live far away from the United States, I look back and wish that I'd hopped over to Mexico more often. I've been there twice, the first time for about 25 minutes. On a road trip from Yuma, Arizona (I had the best taco of my life there) to California, my boyfriend convinced me to drive our rental car across the border into dusty San Luis. I was pretty sure the rental contract didn't include insurance for tooling around Mexico, and after a bag of cornmeal cookies and a few minutes of driving a brand new white convertible around the gritty and exhaust tailpipe-ridden streets, my anxiety got the best of me and I turned around and headed back. I still regret that I cut it short like that. The second time was for my friend Paco's wedding on the coast south of Cancún. This time around it was a week of lush accommodations, heavenly beaches, and terrific food (I'm a big queso fresco fan).

When you're living in America you tend to take for granted the availability of Mexican dishes and ingredients. When Mexican cuisine was still brand new and trendy in Australia, in Singapore there was hardly a trace of Mexico to be found. Simple ingredients like jalapeños and corn tortillas were like rare earth metals here. (I came across just one tiny closet-sized store in Holland Village that sells Mexican ingredients).

Flan, however, I can do. With just a few straightforward, non-exotic ingredients (milk, cream, sugar, eggs), I can whip up a delicious slab of this sliceable creamy custard. Instead of the classic vanilla version though, I did my thing and melted chocolate into the hot custard before baking. And because cinnamon is a common flavor added to Mexican chocolate, I infused cinnamon sticks into the hot milk. I can't get it here, but if you can get your hands on some Mexican chocolate, by all means use it! (And send a care package to me please.) The finished chilled flan is a silky smooth slice of chocolaty custard that's bathed in a complementing caramel sauce which has been created from caramelized sugar set in the bottom of the pan. Though I may have been a wimp on my first excursion to Mexico, I'm certainly not with my caramel. I like to cook it to a rich brown stage (almost burnt) to create the deepest caramel flavor possible. Mexico, until we meet again.