Calabaza en Tacha Flan with Candied Honeynut Squash Seeds

This dish takes its name from the copper cauldrons, known as tachos or tachas, used in sugar mills in colonial Mexico for boiling down sugarcane juice to a thick syrup, which was then crystallized into sugar. Authentic tachas are almost exclusively produced in Santa Clara de Cobre in the Mexican state of Michoacán, where the indigenous Purépecha have been crafting them since pre-Hispanic times and are widely recognized as master coppersmiths. With the addition of spices to the syrup, sweet