Photo by Michael Piazza / Styled by Catrine Kelty

Growing up in Montréal, maple syrup and Cabanes à sucre (sugar shacks) were a big part of my upbringing and always the first signs of spring. I am glad to live in New England now, where we can easily find great batches of maple syrup and maple sugar products from different makers. (Fuller’s Sugar House in New Hampshire does mail order for maple sugar and many other maple products.) If you can’t find the real deal, don’t get the fake—do the following: For the caramel use 1 cup of cane sugar and for the custard use honey in place of maple syrup. Save the six egg whites and make my Coconut-Cardamom Macaroons so nothing goes to waste.

Serves 8–10

1½ cup granulated maple sugar
½ cup cane sugar
1 cup half & half
2 cups whole milk
4 large eggs
6 large egg yolks (reserve the whites for Coconut-Cardamom Macaroons)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons maple syrup

Preheat oven at 350°F.

In a medium saucepan combine the sugars and cook on medium heat until the mixture is thick and bubbly. The mixture will be very hot and you will have to work quickly. Pour into a flan pan: I use a 10-inch round (about 1¾-inch-high) pan or a 1½-quart oven-ready oval dish. With oven mitts (remember the mixture is very hot!) quickly tilt the pan to spread the mixture, covering the entire surface of the bottom of the pan; you may need to use a spatula as the mixture will be thicker than using plain sugar. Set aside.

NOTE: It is very important while making the caramel to NOT stir the mixture constantly as it will burn and get hard. Stir to start and then just let it be. You want to pour it in the pan when it is all melted. But act fast as it can quickly go from melted to burnt!

In the same pan you used to make the caramel, quickly pour in the cream and milk and return to the stove over medium heat to warm; do not boil.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk the eggs, yolks, vanilla and 3 tablespoons of maple syrup. Slowly pour the hot milk/cream mixture and keep whisking until smooth.

Pour the mixture into the caramel-coated pan and set the pan in a large sheet pan or roasting tray. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the flan pan. Cover loosely with foil and bake for an hour, or until the custard is firm to the touch.

Take the pan out of the water bath and let it cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours.

When ready to serve, run a thin knife around the edge of the pan, cover with a large platter (make sure it’s somewhat deep as you will have a fair amount of syrup to collect) and quickly invert the flan onto the platter. Scoop onto plates and make sure you spoon lots of the syrup with each serving.

This recipe appeared in the Spring 2020 issue as part of a larger story on Eggs.