Vanilla and Lime Flan By Esperanza Platas Alvarez (Planet Food Mexico)

Ingredients

• 2 cups condensed milk 
• 6  eggs 
• 3  lime 
• 0.8 cup sugar 
• 1  vanilla pod sliced in half lengthwise
• 3 tablespoons water 
• 2 cups milk whole

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan
• oven
• cake form

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 360 degrees Fahrenheit.To make the caramel, heat together the water and sugar gently over a medium flame for about 10 minutes, ensuring the mixture does not burn.Meanwhile, pour the condensed milk and whole milk into a pan.
2. Add the zest of the limes. Slice the vanilla pod in half and carefully scrape out the vanilla seeds and add these to your milk mixture.Simmer the milk slowly for fifteen minutes to let the flavours infuse.Once the caramel is ready, pour into a cake pan and swirl it around to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Set aside.In a bowl, crack the eggs and beat together. Slowly pour a little of the warm milk , vanilla and lime mixture into the eggs. This will temper the eggs and prevent them from scrambling from the heat. Once the temperature of the eggs has been raised by the warm milk, pour in the rest of the milk.
3. Pour all of the mixture into the cake pan over the caramel.Cook the cake pan in a water bath by placing the pan inside a larger pan which is filled half way with water.
4. Place in the oven and cook for 45 minutes to an hour.Once ready, allow to cool and place inside a fridge overnight. The flan is then ready to be flipped over gently and served.