Mabon/Autumn Equinox Dessert: Butternut Squash Flan

I love flan.  Some people get grossed out by the texture, but I love it.  It's one of my favorite desserts, and I sometimes order it from the Mexican restaurant close to my apartment.  I even made my own for my birthday, using a simple recipe I found from allrecipes.com.  It was fabulous, so I decided to stick with the basic recipe and make a few additions...

First of all, I added some roasted butternut squash.  I love it, and it's perfect for this time of year.  Then, I added some spices to accompany the squash.  It's a creamy, custardy dessert that will be the perfect ending for a Mabon feast.   You know how there's always room for Jell-O?  Well, there's always room for flan, too.  That's another plus - no matter how full you get, there's room for dessert!  Hee hee.

Here we go:

Butternut Squash Flan

1 cup + ½ cup granulated sugar

6 eggs

2 14-oz cans evaporated milk

1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon maple extract

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ cup roasted butternut squash

In a saucepan, heat one cup of sugar until it melts and caramelizes.  Watch carefully, as you don’t want the caramel to be too dark.  It should be a golden brown. 

Spray a 9 x 13 casserole (or 8-10 ramekins) with nonstick spray (especially important if you plan to invert the flan),and pour in the caramel.  

In a blender, combine the rest of the ingredients.  Pour into the casserole dish. 

Heat oven to 325.   

Place casserole into a larger dish.   Set in the oven and then add hot (recently boiled) water about halfway up the side of the flan. 

Bake for 50-55 minutes, until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Cool and then place in the refrigerator to chill.