Mocha Flan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cook sugar in a dry small heavy saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it begins to melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a fork, until sugar melts into a deep golden caramel. Immediately pour into a flan pan or (9-inch round ceramic or glass baking dish or metal cake pan - 2 inches deep) and tilt dish to coat bottom (use caution, dish will be hot). Cool until hardened, 10 to 15 minutes.

Blend remaining ingredients in a blender, in 2 batches if your blender is small, until smooth. Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve over caramel in flan pan and clip on lid. Transfer pan to a 17- by 11-inch roasting pan or deep cake rectangular cake pan.

If not using a flan pan with lid then cover dish loosely with a piece of foil, then pour enough boiling-hot water into roasting/cake pan to reach 1 inch up side of dish. Bake until custard is set but still wobbly in center when gently shaken and a knife inserted in center comes out clean, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

Transfer dish to a rack to cool completely, about 40 minutes. Refrigerate until cold - 8 hours to overnight.

Unmold
To unmold flan, run a thin knife around edge of dish to loosen flan. Invert a large platter with a lip over dish. Holding dish and platter securely together, quickly invert and turn out flan onto platter. Caramel will pour out over and around flan.