This is a recipe from my mother, even though she was an expert pie maker, when it came to pumpkin, this was her recipe of choice. It has just enough caramel to keep it moist but not make it over the top sweet.

1 ½ cups sugar (divided)
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 ½ cups undiluted evaporated milk
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water
5 eggs
Whipped cream or sour cream and crystalized ginger for serving

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• In a heavy bottomed saucepan, heat ½ cup of the sugar until melted and golden brown. Stir constantly and watch for burning
• Pour the caramel into a 9" glass pie pan, don't worry if it doesn't cover the bottom and set aside
• In a blender combine all of the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth
• Pour into the prepared pie pan
• Place the flan in a roasting pan filled with about an inch of water (water bath) and bake for about an hour or until a knife inserted in the center comes clean
• Remove from the oven and let cool then refrigerate until cold
• Run a knife around the outside of the flan and turn out onto a platter, scraping any caramel left in the pie pan
• Serve with whipped cream or sour cream with slivers of crystalized ginger if desired