White Chocolate Flan

1. Remove stem and seeds from pepper and discard. Place pepper in a food processor bowl or blender container. Cover; process or blend until ground. Set aside.

2. In a heavy medium saucepan combine milk, chocolate, 1/3 cup of the sugar, and the nutmeg. Cook over medium heat just to boiling. Remove from heat; set aside for 15 minutes or until slightly cool.

3. To caramelize remaining sugar, in a heavy 8-inch skillet cook sugar over medium-high heat until it begins to melt. Shake skillet occasionally to heat sugar evenly. Do not stir. Once sugar starts to melt, reduce heat to low. Cook about 5 minutes more or until all of the sugar is melted and golden, stirring as needed with a wooden spoon. Immediately divide caramelized sugar among four 6-ounce custard cups; tilt cups to coat bottoms evenly. Let stand for 10 minutes.

4. In a large mixing bowl slowly stir chocolate mixture into beaten eggs. Stir in ground pepper and vanilla. Beat until combined, but not foamy. Place custard cups in a 2-quart square baking dish and place on an oven rack. Divide the chocolate mixture evenly among custard cups.

5. Pour boiling water into the baking dish around custard cups to a depth of 1 inch. Bake in a 325 degree F oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until a knife inserted near centers comes out clean. Remove flans from baking dish; cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

6. To unmold flans, loosen edges with a knife, slipping the point of the knife down the sides. Invert a dessert plate over each flan; turn cup and plate over together. Remove cup. Spoon Passion Fruit Cream on top. If desired, garnish with edible flower petals. Makes 4 servings.

Passion Fruit Cream
Halve 3 passion fruit; press though a fine sieve. In a chilled bowl beat 1/4 cup whipping cream and 1 teaspoon sugar until soft peaks form. Slowly whisk in strained passion fruit pulp and juice or 2 tablespoons purchased passion fruit pulp. (If desired, substitute 2 teaspoons frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed, for the passion fruit.) Makes 4 servings.

Note
Edible flowers can be purchased at many supermarkets. If picking wild edible flowers, make sure they are chemical-free.

Make-Ahead Tip
Prepare and bake custards as above. Cool, then cover and chill in the refigerator for up to 8 hours. Serve as directed.