FLAN

KATHY'S FLAN
5 eggs
2 cups heavy cream (see my comments below)
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup Da Vinci sugar free syrup, caramel flavor *
1/2 cup granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda *
1-2 teaspoons vanilla or other extract *
Pinch salt
Dash nutmeg and/or cinnamon

Spray an 8x8" glass baking dish with cooking spray. Put all of the ingredients, exept nutmeg and cinnamon in a blender and blend for a couple of minutes. If your blender is too full, add the water and syrup later and just stir it in well. Pour the egg mixture into the baking dish and sprinkle the top with nutmeg and/or cinnamon. Set the baking dish inside a larger pan. Pour enough water into the larger pan to come about halfway up the side of the baking dish. Bake at 350?50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool or chill before serving.

Makes 9 servings
Do not freeze

* The Atkins book calls for almond extract but my cousin used half rum extract and half maple extract. The flavor was reminiscent of egg nog and very nice. I used 1/2 teaspoon each of vanilla, rum extract and maple flavoring. The Da Vinci syrup addition was my idea. Also, Kathy sweetened hers with Stevia instead of Splenda.

With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 230 Calories; 22g Fat; 5g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 224 Calories; 22g Fat; 5g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 2g Net Carbs

This is based on a reicpe from one of the Atkins "New Diet Revolution" books and is not really a true flan, which has a layer of caramel on top. This is just a custard. My cousin served this to me at Christmas time and it was very good. Kathy put an extra cup of cream in hers and used different extracts than suggested in the Atkins recipe. Kathy said she baked hers for 30 minutes but mine still wasn't done after 40 minutes. I gave it another 10 minutes and the knife did come out pretty clean but I'm giving it a total of 60 minutes to firm it up even more. Kathy's was very firm and I liked the consistency of hers.

The flavor is very nice but the consistency isn't anything like Kathy's was. Hers was very thick and firm almost like a soft cheesecake. Mine is more like regular soft custard. Perhaps it will firm up as it chills overnight. I will report back if there is any change tomorrow. If it doesn't firm up I may try leaving out the water next time and replace 1/4 cup of the cream with the Da Vinci syrup. It's interesting that the spices on the top form a crunchy topping. Click the photo to see a close-up.

UPDATE: The flan only firmed up a little overnight in the fridge. It's still like regular custard and relatively soft. I recommend leaving out the cup of water. The servings will be slightly smaller, but that will be in appearance only since the water has no food value.

1. Prev:CREAMY EGG CUSTARD
2. Next:LEMON PUDDING MOUSSE