Caramel flan with orange carpaccio

Ingredients for 8 servings:

• 6 tbsp sugar
• 6 tbsp water
• 1 vanilla pod(s)
• 150 g sugar
• 4 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 750 ml milk
• 2 oranges
• Cinnamon
• possibly olive oil

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Rest time approx. 5 hours; Total time approx. 5 hours 20 minutes

For the steamer

Set the oven to steam heat and preheat for 10 minutes. During this time, heat 6 tablespoons of sugar with 6 tablespoons of water in a non-stick saucepan. Once the water has evaporated, it will take a while for the sugar to turn into caramel. When the soufflé dish reaches its typical golden brown color, pour the caramel into the bottom of small soufflé dishes. Scrape out the vanilla pod, add the seeds to the milk, and heat the milk. Let it boil. Whisk the eggs with 150g of sugar (do not beat until frothy, or the flan will taste like sweet scrambled eggs). Whisk the hot milk into the egg mixture, then pour the cream into the dishes. Cover with aluminum foil and place in a steamer filled with 750ml of water. Place in the oven for 35-40 minutes. If you don’t have a steamer, you can also cover the soufflés and cook them in another dish. When the flan is ready, remove them from the oven and refrigerate for 5-6 hours. Then turn out onto plates and serve. For garnish, peel the oranges, cut them into wafer-thin slices, and arrange each one around the flan. Dust with a little cinnamon. If you’re feeling daring, you can also add a teaspoon of olive oil to each orange on each plate; it’s delicious.