• Preheat oven to 350°F (177˚C). Place a rack in the center of the oven. Boil water in a tea kettle over the stove to use for the bain-marie or baño maria “water bath”.

Make the Caramel:

• In a medium saucepan, add sugar and cook over medium-high heat. Stir consistently until the sugar melts and becomes a golden (amber) caramel color (8-10 minutes). Stir the caramel as you remove it from the heat, so it doesn’t burn as it continues to cook in the hot saucepan. Pour the caramel into a 9-inch or 10-inch plate and swirl the plate to spread the caramel to cover the plate bottom. Place the pie plate it in a larger pan (casserole dish) with higher sides and set aside to cool.

  TIPS: The caramel will harden as it sits in the pie plate. It will melt again as it cooks in the oven. As the caramel solidifies you may hear it crack but don’t worry it’s the candy, not your pan.

Prepare the Flan:

• In a large bowl, add eggs and beat using a hand-mixer (or whisk) until the eggs are bubbly and frothy. Pour in the sweetened condensed coconut milk and continue to beat the mixture. Stir the coconut milk to mix the top cream with the bottom water. Pour in the coconut milk and beat some more. Add vanilla and salt and beat another minute or so until the mixture is smooth. Pour the mixture over the caramel in the pie plate. Cover and seal the pie plate with foil.

  TIP: If you find your mixture lumpy, pour the mixture through a sieve to break them down or remove them.
• Place the pie plate sitting in the larger pan in the oven on the center rack. With the rack pulled out, pour boiling water from the kettle into the large pan around the pie plate without getting any water in the pie plate. Fill the large pan until the water reaches ¾ full around the pie plate. Carefully push the rack back in the oven. Bake for 50 minutes or longer until the flan is set all around and a knife inserted half-way down in the center comes out clean. The flan should jiggle when lightly shaken.
• Remove the pie plate from the larger pan and cool on a wire rack at room temperature. Once it cools to room temperature about 2 hours, you can cut and serve.
• When ready to serve, run a sharp knife around the edges of the pie plate to loosen the flan. Place a larger plate or serving dish over the top of the pie plate and invert the flan to release it from the pie plate. Caramel sauce will ooze over the flan. Spoon any remaining sauce from the pie plate on top of the flan. Decorate if desired with fresh fruit or coconut chips. Slice into wedges and serve.