For years one of my favorite things has been the sheets of "caramel" that resulted when I baked a ham and the glazing ran down onto the foil lined baking pan, then set up. Never occurred to me to use it in a recipe, but it did to someone at Sunset Magazine. The illustration in the magazine shows the flan garnished with crunched up chunks of the un powdered caramel.

Line a 10- by 15-inch baking pan with a single sheet of foil, folding up at edges.

Pour 2 cups sugar into a 10- to 12-inch nonstick frying pan, place over medium-high heat. Shake pan often until most of the sugar liquefies, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; tilt pan to mix hot caramel with sugar until all is melted and the color is deep amber, 3 to 5 ea minutes.

Immediately pour hot caramel into foil-lined pan. Using hot pads to protect hands (mixture is very hot), tilt pan to spread caramel in thin layer. Set aside until hard and completely cool, about 30 minutes.

When cool, lift foil from pan; peel foil from caramel. Break caramel into chunks. To make powder, whirl chunks in a blender or food processor fitted with metal blade (container must be completely dry). If you use a blender, you may need to make powder in several batches. Use, or store airtight at room temperature for up to 1 month.

Makes about 1 3/4 cups.