Sew what's cooking with Joan!: JJ's favorite Chocolate flan with salted caramel sauce! Cinco de Mayo!

How do you spell romance? I spell it D-E-S-S-E-R-T! In particular I love this Ibarra flan. The first time I tried Ibarra flan I was at a restaurant in Seattle on Queen Anne called Barbacoa (which has since closed). Chef John created this fabulous recipe with Mexican Ibarra chocolate that I fell in love with and I ordered it, every time we went! I begged for the recipe and finally got a scribbled recipe for 24 people, that quite honestly was not accurate! Last year I made an Ibarra flan and blogged about it, but, I have perfected it to serving eight and added a few more touches of my own that I think you will love! This can be served in individual ramekins as well!

First, for those not familiar with Ibarra, here is a little description. Ibarra is produced by the company Chocolatera de Jalisco of Guadalajara, Mexico. The company manufactures other chocolate products, but Ibarra table chocolate is its best-known product, with presence throughout Mexico as well as international markets, mainly in America but also in parts of Europe. It is often found in gourmet shops. I became familiar with Ibarra when I lived in Mexico.

Ibarra tablets are packaged in a distinctive red-and-yellow hexagon-shaped cardboard box. Each circular tablet of table chocolate is about 1/2" thick and 3¼" in diameter, and is molded into 8 wedges. The letters of the name "IBARRA" are also molded into the chocolate. The ingredients are sugar, cocoa liquor, vegetable fat (not cocoa butter), soy lecithin, and cinnamon flavoring.
Unlike chocolate bars, and because of its undissolved granulated sugar and its rough and gritty texture. Ibarra is used primarily to make hot cocoa in traditional Mexican form. It is also used in mole sauce.

JJ's Ibarra Flan
Ingredients:

1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 tablet Ibarra Mexican chocolate
3/4 c. salted caramel sauce (recipe below, or store bought sauce)
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.

Chop the Mexican chocolate tablet into medium pieces. In a double boiler heat the evaporated milk, add the Ibarra chocolate and stir until it is melted.

Pour the salted caramel sauce in the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan, tilting to coat the bottom of pan; set aside. (I like to bake my flan in a shallow cake pan, so there is less chance of it breaking when I flip it over to serve.)

In a food processor combine the evaporated milk with chocolate, the sweetened condensed milk and the eggs. Puree until smooth. Carefully pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared cake pan.

Place the cake pan inside a larger pan and fill the larger pan with about 1-inch of hot water. (This is called a water bath or Bain Marie)

Bake for about 45 minutes or until the center of the flan is only slightly jiggly.

Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours.

To serve, place a serving plate, face-down on top of the flan. Grabbing both the serving plate and the baking dish, gently flip the flan over; remove baking pan. I garnished with extra Salted Caramel, drizzled back and forth across the individual serving as above or just a dollop of sweetened whipping cream below.

Salted Caramel Sauce

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together butter, brown sugar, heavy whipping cream, and salt.
Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer for 6 minutes, whisking occasionally.
Whisk in vanilla (be careful, it will bubble up) and cook 1 more minute.
Pour caramel into a jar, then refrigerate until cold.
Store in refrigerator. To serve, microwave briefly until sauce is pourable.

A colorful table makes for a lot of fun, no matter what the occasion! I decorated our table with my colorful pepper filled bowl with a inner vase filled with beautiful red tulips!