Pumpkin Flan With Pumpkin Seed Praline

Total Time: 1 hr 50 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 (5 ounce) cans evaporated milk
• 5 large eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 (15 ounce) can solid-pack pumpkin
• 2 tablespoons premium golden agave tequila or 2 tablespoons bourbon
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup hulled green pumpkin seeds, toasted

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 375 degrees f.
• 2 cook 1 cup sugar in a dry 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring slowly with a fork, until melted and pale golden.
• 3 cook caramel without stirring, swirling pan, until deep golden, about 5 minutes.
• 4 quickly and carefully remove hot dish from oven and immediately pour caramel into dish, tilting it to cover bottom and sides.
• 5 (leave oven on.) keep tilting as caramel cools and thickens enough to stay in place.
• 6 scald whole milk with evaporated milk in a saucepan and remove from heat.
• 7 beat eggs and remaining cup sugar with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
• 8 beat in salt, pumpkin, tequila, and spices.
• 9 pour milk mixture through a sieve into a bowl and beat into pumpkin mixture in a slow stream until combined well.
• 10 pour custard over caramel in dish and set in a water bath of 1-inch hot water.
• 11 put pan in middle of oven and lower temperature to 350 degrees f.
• 12 bake until golden brown on top and a knife inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 1/4 hours, possibly longer.
• 13 remove dish from water bath and transfer to a rack to cool.
• 14 chill flan, covered, until cold, at least 6 hours.
• 15 to unmold flan, dip bottom of souffle dish briefly (20 to 30 seconds) in a warm water bath.
• 16 then, run a thin knife around flan to loosen from sides of dish.
• 17 wiggle dish from side to side and, when flan moves freely in dish, invert a large serving platter with a lip over dish.
• 18 holding dish and platter securely together, quickly invert and turn out flan onto platter.
• 19 caramel will pour out over and around it.
• 20 cut flan into wedges and serve with caramel spooned over and with shards of praline.
• 21 pumpkin seed praline: preheat oven to 250 degrees f.
• 22 lightly oil a large sheet of foil on a baking sheet and keep warm in oven.
• 23 cook sugar, water, and a pinch of salt in a deep 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring slowly with a metal fork, until melted and pale golden.
• 24 cook caramel without stirring, swirling pan, until deep golden.
• 25 immediately stir in pumpkin seeds and quickly pour onto foil, spreading into a thin sheet before it hardens.
• 26 (if caramel hardens and is difficult to spread, put in a 400 degree f oven until warm enough to spread, 1 to 2 minutes.) cool praline on baking sheet on a rack until completely hardened, then break into large pieces.