Preheat the oven to 350F. Boil some water and set aside (this will be poured into the baking tray later, but won’t be added to the flan).

Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it is just warm enough to melt sugar. Add 1 T of the brown sugar and stir until melted. Turn off heat and set aside. Be careful to not let it boil.

Crack eggs into a mid-sized bowl and beat until slightly foamy. The longer you beat, the smoother the flan will be.

Add the vanilla and stir with the beater until well mixed.

Add in the milk mixture and stir with the beater until well mixed.

Allow the mixture to cool slightly. While waiting, put around 1 t brown sugar into each of the cups, shaking slightly to even distribute. This will melt during the baking process, creating cozy caramel liquid at the bottom of the flan.

With the sieve, pour the flan mixture into the cups, leaving about ⅓” from the top. It’s important to use the sieve or else the foam will gather at the top of the cup. The foam will dissipate while baking, leaving ugly looking bubbles at the top of the cup and will also prevent you from filling the cups to the max.

Cover the cups with aluminum foil and place on the baking sheet and pour warm water into the tray, enough to raise the water to about ½” (or half the height of the tray if using a lower tray).

Transfer the tray into the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

After the time is up, remove from the oven and remove the cups from the tray and allow to cool for around 20 minutes. Once the cups are just warm to touch, store in the refrigerator and serve as soon as completely cool. Enjoy within 3 days!