I’ve never much cared for flan or crème caramel for it being rubbery and leaving much to be desired in the flavor department (aside from being sickly sweet that is). But here’s a new year’s revelation for yours truly: texturally, it can be out of this world. This flan is incredibly creamy and dreamily smooth, and boy was it a good idea to sub vanilla paste for the extract I didn’t have on hand! There is nothing like the sweet, alluring scent of vanilla wafting from a fresh-out-of-the-oven flan to dismay you because you just can’t get to it until it has set in the fridge overnight. 😫 But it’s worth the yield of caramel sauce, whose sweetness is appropriately countered with smoky coffee notes. If this is why flan is still revered on earth, I now get it. Happy 2023!