Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club - Double Ginger Pumpkin Flan

Here we are in the dead of winter and thus far we've had it relatively easy. Toronto's had a smattering of snow but not the 6 ft drifts I remember from my childhood. I'm not sure whether I should be happy or concerned.

This month's Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club is focusing on winter comfort food. For me, desserts are always comforting so I decided to try my hand at a Double Ginger Pumpkin Flan I used a flan pan that was probably too big for the volume of this flan so I carefully spooned it into dessert dishes. It sure didn't take away from the taste. I've included the nutritional breakdown to emphasize that we can always have dessert.



If you don't have individual ramekins, use custard cups or a 1 1/2-quart baking dish, which will require an additional 15 to 20 minutes in the oven.

Ingredients

Caramel:

Cooking spray
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
Flan:
1/3 cup sugar
6 large egg yolks
1 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°.

2. To prepare caramel, lightly coat 6 (6-ounce) ramekins with cooking spray. Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Cook 4 minutes or until sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. Increase heat to medium-high. Cook, without stirring, 6 minutes or until mixture turns golden around outside edges. Divide evenly into prepared ramekins. Set aside.

3. To prepare flan, combine 1/3 cup sugar and egg yolks in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in pumpkin and next 3 ingredients (through cinnamon). Combine milk, half-and-half, and fresh ginger. Heat milk mixture over medium-high heat in a heavy saucepan to 180° or until tiny bubbles form around edge (do not boil). Gradually add half of hot milk mixture to egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return milk mixture to pan. Reduce heat, and cook to 160°, stirring constantly with a whisk . Remove from heat. Strain through a sieve over a large bowl; discard solids.

4. Divide milk mixture evenly among prepared ramekins. Place cups in a 13 x 9–inch baking pan; add hot water to pan to a depth of 1-inch. Bake at 325° for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cups from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Chill at least 8 hours.

5. Carefully loosen edges of custards with a knife. Invert ramekins onto plates. Drizzle any remaining caramel over custards.

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Nutritional Information
Amount per serving
Calories: 224
Calories from fat: 31%
Fat: 7.6g
Saturated fat: 3.6g
Monounsaturated fat: 2.9g
Polyunsaturated fat: 0.8g
Protein: 5.1g
Carbohydrate: 34.9g
Fiber: 1.3g
Cholesterol: 215mg
Iron: 1.2mg
Sodium: 39mg
Calcium: 106mg