October 14 is National Dessert Day: the Perfect Flan Recipe

The U.S. loves to honor people and things with special and national days. We have Mother’s day and Father’s day in the summer, Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day in winter and spring, not to mention Grandparent’s Day, Secretary’s Day, and the hundreds more that pepper our calendars and Hallmark card shelves. There’s even “Eat a Red Apple Day” that inexplicably takes place on December 1st each year. (Consider yourself warned.)

But the celebrating doesn’t stop there. We devote entire months to celebrating weird, entertaining things that we decided were important somewhere along the way. We have Fall Hat Month in September Sarcastic Month in October, Peanut Butter Lovers Month in November, and so on.

So naturally there’s National Dessert Day (of course!); it falls on October 14 this year. While we couldn’t find much about its history (why a day about desserts, who set it as a national day, and why is the day in October), but we heartily endorse it. After all, what’s not to love about desserts? They should be celebrated!

While we couldn’t find much about its history (why a day about desserts, who set it as a national day, and why is the day in October), we heartily endorse it. After all, what’s not to love about desserts? They should be celebrated!

Flan’s history on the other hand has been well documented and dates all the way back to the Roman Empire! It’s been a favorite of dessert lovers for so long, it seems only fitting it christen this most delicious of holidays.

Therefore, in honor of National Dessert Day, we offer you a quick and simple recipe for flan, one of the most popular Tex Mex desserts ever. This dessert comes to us courtesy of Food.com and its creator is C. Taylor.

You will need (for 8-10 servings):

• Three-quarter cup of sugar
• Four eggs
• One 14-ounce can of condensed milk
• One tablespoon of vanilla extract
• One 12-ounce can of evaporated milk
• Boiling water (you will place the flan in it while the dessert is baking)
• A pie plate and a large pan in which the plate will fit
• A large bowl

To make:

• Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
• Place the sugar in a saucepan and brown it until it turns a nice, dark, golden brown (don’t burn it).
• You will need to swiftly transfer the browned sugar to the pie plate. Use some tablespoons of water to help melt it.
• Get the bowl and beat the eggs. Add the milk and vanilla extract. Mix well and pour the mixture into the pie plate.
• Take the large pan (the one for the pie plate) and fill it halfway with boiling water. Place it in your oven and then put the pie plate in the middle of the pan.
• Bake it in the oven between 45 and 55 minutes, until the flan’s center is soft, but firm enough that it’s not too goopy.
• Remove it and let it cool. Once cool, run a knife along the pie plate’s edge and then flip the flan onto a serving dish.

Want some flan on National Dessert Day but you don’t want to make it yourself? Come to Mattito’s! Visit the Mattito’s location nearest you to satisfy your sweet tooth!

Image courtesy of rakratchada torsap/FreeDigitalPhotos.net