Pumpkin-Nutmeg Flan

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Tis the season for gustatory (heavens, is that a word? Sounds so...over-the-top) delights. Tis (my, my, I am enjoying saying Tis.) A time for indugences and sinful decadent desserts. Like this.

This, which begs to be made. This, which affords the eater the luxury of knowing that sure, its a sugary confection, but *bonus* it also has some healthy attributes.


You seem skeptical! Don't be. I'm serious! (Insert mischeviuos grin.) I mean come on...pumpkin is high in fiber and beta carotene, and eggs have, um, protien! And we all know ginger is food for all sorts of ailments. See, its practically health food!


Minus, of course, the sugar. And cream. Oh, and the cookie topping. Okay, so maybe its not health food. Maybe its just "good spirits" food. You know, food that makes you feel good.

And who doesnt like to feel good?

Devised to delight my darling pumpkin-a-holic friend Ms. McGee, it is a simple delight. A tiny sliver of its golden flecked goodness will send you to another place. Somewhere that is warm and cozy, where you feel comforted with each bite. Because flan is, after all, a world-class comfort food. Ms. McGee, happily ensconsed in her new digs thought so, and I hope you will too.

Try it, and enjoy!

2 cups canned pumpkin
1 can (condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
7 eggs
3 tablespoons brown sugar (light or dark)
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup white sugar
1 pound gingersnap cookies
1/2 cup melted, unsalted butter

In a food processor, combine the pumpkin, condensed and evaporated milk, eggs, nutmeg and the 3 tablespoons brown sugar and purée until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat your oven to 375F.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Meanwhile, pour the 1 cup of sugar into a heavy bottomed pan and cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until the sugar is a light amber color, about 5 minutes. (This depends on you flame. It can vary in time up to 15 minutes.) Pour it into a 9 by 4-inch glass loaf pan. Let set for a minute or so, then pour the pumpkin on top. Place the loaf pan in a larger pan, and place in the oven. Using a pitcher, fill the larger, outer pan with enough of the boiling water to come 1/3 of the way up the sides of the loaf pan. Bake for 15 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350F, and bake until set (a knife inserted in the center will come out clean), about 50 minutes.

Remove the flan from the oven, leaving the water bath in there to cool completely (so much safer this way). Let the flan cool completely.

To prepare the crust, place the cookies and melted butter in a food processor and process until well blended. Pack the crust mixture on top of the cooled flan, and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least four hours.

To serve, run a knife around the inside edges of the loaf pan and invert onto a serving platter with a lip (if it is a flat platter, the sauce will spill!)

Serve with whipped cream.
Makes one loaf, about 8-12 servings.

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The spice mace is the outer webbing of the nutmeg nut.

Some of you may be wondering why I did not donate to Menu of Hope this year. My lame excuse is that I am tremendously disorganized, and am wracked with guilt over it. My lack of partcipation not-withstanding, I do hope you will all check out the great prizes and support this worthy cause.