Orange Flan or Creme Brule

Posting after ages...need to document since I have been trying out new recipes lately. Tried this out today.
Recipe courtesy: http://kannammacooks.com/orange-flan-recipe/

Ingredients

For the Caramel

• ¼ cup water
• ½ cup sugar

For the Custard

• 1½ cups whole milk
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Egg yolk
• 6 tablespoons Sugar
• Zest from an Orange

Instructions

For the Caramel

1. Add sugar to a small sauce pan. Add water from the sides. Combine the water and sugar. Gently stir to moisten the sugar thoroughly.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil until the sugar is completely dissolved and the liquid is clear. ( Do not stir at this stage. Stirring will cause the sugar to crystallize)
3. Continue to cook stirring occasionally until the caramel darkens into a light brown color.
4. Cook until the color of the caramel becomes amber. Do not leave it for too long as the caramel might burn and turn bitter.
5. Remove the pan immediately from the heat and pour a portion of the caramel into each of the four 6-ounce ramekins. Do not touch the caramel as it will be super hot and can even burn your hands. Allow the caramel to harden. It will take about 3-4 minutes.

For the Custard

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 180 degrees C.
2. Zest an orange and add it to the milk. Zest only the skin. The skin has all the essential oils and aroma. Not the pith. Pith is very bitter. Make sure you do not zest the pith. Heat the milk and orange zest in a saucepan over medium heat until it boils. Remove from the heat. Set aside.
3. In the mean time whisk the whole eggs, egg yolks, and sugar slowly in a large bowl until just combined.
4. Add in the milk mixture into the eggs until just combined. Do not keep whisking. You do not want to incorporate air. The mixture should not be extremely foamy. Little foam is OK. Strain the mixture into a large bowl.
5. Divide and pour the mixture in the ramekins. Arrange the ramekins on a large baking dish. Place the baking dish on the rack of the oven.

Water Bath

1. Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Pour the boiling water into the baking dish. The water should be half way up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake and Serve

1. Bake until a paring knife inserted halfway between the center comes out clean, it can take between 40 – 50 minutes. Transfer the custards to a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
2. To unmold, slide a paring knife around the sides of the ramekin. Hold a serving plate over the top of the ramekin and invert. Shake the ramekin gently to release the custard. Repeat with the remaining ramekins and serve.