Orange Flavoured Flan

Flan

Thank you for the challenge this month Flan II recipe [taken from All Recipes] given by Jen at Have the Cake ; a good post with excellent options. Waited for a better photo but the dish did not last so long! :-) 

The original had several reviews and suggestions and they really helped in  the final product. The tweaked recipe from the original uses:
- 4 eggs instead of 2 eggs and 2 yolks plus
-1/2 Cup of heavy cream is substituted for 1/2 cup of milk in the 2 Cups of milk 
-added 1 tsp of Vanilla
-added 3/4 tsp of grated orange zest:

Ingredients

1/2 Cup of white granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups of Milk

1/2 Cup of Heavy Cream
4 whole eggs [organic brown eggs used here]

3/8th Cup of Sugar

1tsp of Vanilla extract
3/4 tsp grated orange zest
Method
Preheat oven to 375 F
In a heavy-bottomed pan heat the sugar with a couple of tbsps of water until golden.
Coat the bottom of 6 ramekins [used my Corningware bowls]
Keep aside.


In a saucepan bring the milk and cream mix to a gentle simmer.
Turn the heat off.
Beat the eggs to a ribbon-like consistency.
Add the warm milk in tbsps, stirring well after each addition.
Gently pour the egg-milk mixture into the milk, 
Add sugar and mix well.
Put the pan on medium low heat and cook, stirring well for 5 minutes.
Add the vanilla extract and the orange zest, mix well.
Take off the heat,
Strain the mix if needed.
Pour carefully into the 6 ramekins.


Line a roasting pan with a kitchen towel, 
Position the ramekins in the pan,
Pour hot tap water or boiling water into the pan,  halfway up to the sides of the ramekins.
Bake for 40 minutes, until set.
Let cool, invert and serve.

Notes: Really liked the texture and flavour of the custard. The addition of orange zest and vanilla helped cut the 'eggy' flavour of usual flan's. Several reviewers had issues with the sugar caramel coating and mine was not an exception. Adding water and butter helped; perhaps better control over the amount would have helped. Did not note down how much water and butter was used, so the caramel part here would not be helpful! 


Moi previous  attempt at Flan, during winter was the Spanish Flan using condensed milk. Personal preference would be the above one but opinion was divided between both!

Spanish Flan with strawberries and cardamom