Flan

My mother-in-law makes the best flan I have ever had. Two years ago while at my parents house I attempted to make flan. I had the recipe and it was very easy as I had made custard pies before. The only challenging aspect was caramelizing sugar. I had never caramelized sugar before and had been told that it was very difficult to do by many sources. My mother-in-law said that it was easy and her advice (translated from my husband) was to use a pie or cake tin (the mold for the flan) to caramelize the sugar. After 30 minutes and no melted sugar, I hit the internet which advised using a double boiler. As I was trying the second attempt at caramelizing sugar, my husband opened up the refrigerator and the flan filling tumbled to the ground splattering everywhere. The next hour was spent cleaning the kitchen floor and under the refrigerator. In exasperation, I told my husband that I would not make flan until his mother showed me how.
The other night my mother-in-law showed me how to make flan. As soon as the sugar hit the hot cake tin it instantly melted. I was aghast. She hadn't done anything special or differnt than I did; why did her sugar melt and not mine? Apparently it is all in the pan. "Always use Wilton pans for flans," she told me. One of my first purchases in Kentucky will be a Wilton pan.