Introduction: Speckled Caramel Rum Flan

About: Hello! My name is Jennifer and I love to cook. Baking, grilling, smoking, and frying interest me. Creating my own recipe is even better!
This was such an easy dessert to make and I love using the crockpot in the kitchen. It does not heat up the whole kitchen like the oven. For this recipe, I used my 6 quart rectangular Instant Pot slow cooker. I wanted to include that information since slow cookers (crockpots) can be very different as far as cooking times and size. I own four different slow cookers and they are as different from each other as my kids!
One of the best parts of this dessert besides the awesome taste, was that I already had all of the ingredients that I needed at home.
These little gems would be perfect for a weeknight family meal or even a dinner party. They are versatile and can be garnished in a variety of ways from fresh fruit to grated chocolate.

Ingredients:
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups 2 percent milk ( whole milk will work too)
1 cup sugar divided plus extra for speckles
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon rum extract

Step 1: Preparing the Custard

Add 3 eggs to 1 1/2 cups milk in a blender.

Step 2: Preparing the Custard

Add 1/2 cup sugar to the blender.

Step 3: Preparing the Custard

Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of rum extract. Cover the blender with the lid. Using the “liquify” setting, blend for 10 seconds. You don’t want the mixture to become frothy. Set aside.

Step 4: Creating a Water Bath

Pour water into your slow cooker so that custard cups are sitting in an inch or two of water. You don’t want water in the cups.

Step 5: Heating the Sugar

In a small sauce pan over medium high heat on the stovetop, add 1/2 cup sugar. Do not stir but allow sugar to melt and turn golden in color. Be careful here because the sugar can burn easily. Remove from heat. Add two tablespoons of unheated sugar to the melted sugar. This will create a speckled effect in your flan.

Step 6: Preparing the Custard Cups

This recipe will create 4 six ounce speckled caramel rum flans. Divide caramel (melted sugar) between the four custard cups. On top of this, divide the custard mixture between the four cups.

Step 7: Cooking the Flan

Carefully add all four custard cups to the water bath in the crockpot. Turn the machine to the “high” setting. Allow the flans to cook for two hours or until a knife can be inserted and come out clean.

Step 8: Removing and Serving the Flan

You have to be very careful. Everything about this step is very hot including the flan, the water, and the crockpot itself. Remove the lid from the crockpot at an angle so that the condensation will roll into the sink or a bowl and not into your flan. To get the custard cups out of the crockpot, I used my canning tongs to carefully lift them from the very hot water.

Step 9: Removing and Serving Flan

Once you have removed the custard cups from the crockpot, run a knife around the perimeter to release the flan. Invert the cup in a shallow bowl and release the flan. Enjoy!