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Time for dessert! Make Natalie Morales's pumpkin flan

To help get you ready for Thanksgiving, the TODAY's Take anchors are sharing some of their favorite dishes, along with the recipes, so you can make them for your guests. Willie Geist and Tamron Hall prepared their scrumptious mashed potato recipes, Al Roker shared his mom's sweet potato poon dish and now Natalie is making pumpkin flan.Natalie's pumpkin flanIngredients4 large eggs1 can low-fat eva

To help get you ready for Thanksgiving, the TODAY's Take anchors are sharing some of their favorite dishes, along with the recipes, so you can make them for your guests. Willie Geist and Tamron Hall prepared their scrumptious mashed potato recipes, Al Roker shared his mom's sweet potato poon dish and now Natalie is making pumpkin flan.

Natalie's pumpkin flan


Ingredients

  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 can low-fat evaporated milk
  • 1 can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 8 ounces pumpkin pie mix 
  • Cinnamon + nutmeg 
  • 3/4 cup sugar

Directions

In a blender, combine the 4 eggs, evaporated and condensed milks, vanilla and pumpkin. Blend until smooth and set aside.

Heat water in the bottom part of a double boiler pan (about 1/4 way full) or in a roasting pan in an oven preheated to 325 degrees, also 1/4 of the way full.

While the water is heating, pour the sugar into a flan mold. Over a very low flame, caramelize the sugar. This is the hardest part of the recipe because the key is not to let the sugar burn or get too dark. The pan can be directly over the flame. Use a wooden spoon to work the sugar around the pan. Remove from the flame as soon as the sugar starts to turns a light brown.

Once the sugar reaches a light brown caramel color, it's important to coat the whole pan with it. Tilt the pan and using the wooden spoon coat all of the pan's sides. Now it's ready for the flan mixture.

Pour the flan mixture into the sugar coated flan mold. Place it in the water in the double boiler pan or in the water-filled roasting pan in the oven.

If you're using a double boiler, cook for about 45 minutes, but check the water level in the base every 15 min. or so to make sure it is always about 1/4 full. The flan is cooked through when the top pulls from the sides of the pan a bit. (If you've cooking it in the oven, at 325 degrees, it should take about the same time.)

Set aside to cool, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

To serve, take a large dessert platter and place on top of the flan mold as if it were a lid. Do this over the sink to ensure no spillage. Quickly flip the pan onto the platter. The flan should come out of the mold perfectly with a beautiful caramel glaze. Enjoy!

Try one of these 5 easy alternatives to pumpkin pie (including pumpkin cheesecake!)