Classic American Funnel Cake vs Flan Casero (Homemade Spanish Caramel Custard)

Both desserts start from milk, sugar and eggs, but they take them in opposite directions. In the funnel cake, those ingredients join flour and baking powder in a vanilla-scented batter that is poured through a funnel into hot oil and fried into a golden, crispy lattice, then dusted with powdered sugar and served warm. The flan instead enriches whole eggs and extra yolks with whole milk and condensed milk, bakes the strained custard gently in a water bath, and serves it chilled, silky and smooth beneath a deep amber caramel.