Flan with Brown Sugar Candy Cap Syrup

When a friend gave me a jar of dried candy cap mushrooms, it took me a while to figure out what to do with them besides unscrewing the cap occasionally to marvel at their improbable maple-y aroma. When she suggested I use them to flavor a simple syrup, though, a whole world of possibilities opened up, including this easy dessert—the perfect sweet ending to a soup-to-nuts mushroom meal. I chose to use brown sugar for the syrup because its deeper, molasses like tones complement the earthiness