Flan

If the cliche "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach" is true, then this recipe is why my husband fell in love with me. While dating and learning how to cook my family's Latino food, my sister sent me this recipe and labeled it The Big Guns and the rest is history....But seriously, it is a very simple (but a bit labor intensive) classic Cuban dessert that can be modified with different flavorings - but our family prefers it plain.

1 cup of sugar

6 eggs

1 can condensed milk

1 can evaporated milk (we prefer whole milk, but can even be low fat or fat free if you like)

1 small splash of the best vanilla extract you can find

1 small pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and put rack in center of the oven. Melt the sugar in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Here is where the dessert becomes a labor of love because it is very important to continue to stir the sugar so that the heat distributes evenly, the sugar does not burn and you minimize lumps.

Stir until sugar becomes golden brown and have pan you are going to use for flan waiting near by because sugar stiffens quickly.

Pour sugar into bottom of pan, I like a simple glass pan.

Bake for one hour. We have a very hot oven so this is enough time. If you gently shake the pan, the center should wiggle but not be liquidy. If it is, cook a little longer.

Let flan sit for at least 15 minutes before you flip it over. This is the hardest part as we always start digging in and eating warm flan - it tastes great but will fall apart. Cut around edge of flan and put large plate on top of pan and flip over.