Entertainment
My Essential Christmas Dessert Is Flan
Flan is pure nostalgia for me. My Tex-Mex mom made it often, blending all the milk and eggs in a blender, agonizing over the caramel, and then shrieking if it unmolded with a crack in the center. Kid-me didn’t care about the aesthetics of the flan, I just wanted to taste the custard on my tongue. For my birthday, we’d stick candles in it and watch ’em jiggle. I’d wash it down with, like, 14 Dr Peppers. I had a sophisticated palate.
Nowadays I spend the holidays with my sister. We always make flan for Christmas dessert because it’s so light and airy after a heavy meal. After our mom died, we searched for her recipes but only found bits and pieces. (Lessons in grief — you’re always trying to fill in the blanks. You won’t, but you’ll damn sure try.)
Thankfully, we’ve finally found a recipe that solves my mom’s broken flan woes. This recipe, from the brilliant Nik Sharma and his wonderful cookbook The Flavor Equation, makes the smoothest, most perfect flan I’ve ever had, and I’ve searched far and wide. When we first nailed the flan, we shrieked with delight. (I love making flan with someone else because when you flip the pan, you want another person to cheer when it thwomps out perfectly in a pool of caramel.)
Nik Sharma grew up with a similar “caramel pudding” in India, he writes in his cookbook, sweetened with jaggery and eaten on hot Bombay summer days. In his book, he walks through each recipe’s techniques, and they’re as educational as they are foolproof and delicious. If you’re a fan of Cook’s Illustrated-level food science nerdiness, buy the dang book! It’s amazing.
So, what makes a perfect flan?
* The caramel will be golden amber. Not too light. Not too dark. Be impatient or patient, depending on your nature.
* Cream of tartar will help the caramel from crystallizing due to science (please don’t ask me to explain it).
* The custard will be smooth, not full of air bubbles. Every step of the way, stir like you’re moving in slow motion. No blenders here.
* The custard should be set but not firm. Start checking after 45 minutes.
* Bain-marie is necessary, sorry. Yes, it’s annoying to pour boiling water into a baking pan and all that, but it’s what cooks the custard to its smoothest potential.
* It’s homemade. A cracked, bubbly flan is still perfect if you made it for me.
In The Flavor Equation version, you can infuse the milk with toasted hazelnuts. I did that one year, and it was lovely and subtle, but the nostalgia in me prefers it milky and simple. Sharma also suggests using hazelnut creamer, and it got me thinking about the untapped baking uses of coffee creamers.
Anyway, onto the flan.
Holiday Flan
Recipe adapted from “Hazelnut Flan” in Nik Sharma’s The Flavor Equation.
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
¾ cup sugar (150 grams)
2 cups whole milk
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
¼ teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
Make the caramel:
In a small saucepan, combine ¼ cup water and cream of tartar, and pour the sugar in the center (Sharma’s great tip to avoid it sticking to the pan sides). Cook over medium-high heat until the sugar starts to caramelize, 6-8 minutes. When it looks like your ideal shade of caramel, a moody amber in my case, pour it into an 8-inch round cake pan and quickly rotate the pan so the caramel coats the bottom.
Baking prep:
Preheat the oven to 325°F and put a kettle or a pot of water on to boil. Dig out a 13” x 9” baking dish that’ll fit your cake pan, and a wire rack to fit inside it. (Or get crafty with foil or a kitchen towel, just something to keep the cake pan elevated.)
Make the custard:
Clean out your trusty caramel saucepan and fill it with the milk, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and salt. Warm it up over medium-high but don’t let it boil. We don’t want milk skin. Remove the pan from the heat.
Crack the eggs into a large bowl and use a spatula to break the yolks and gently stir the eggs — this tip from Sharma is game-changing because if you rigorously whisk them you’ll create dreaded air bubbles in the flan. We want silky smooth. Slowly add just ½ cup of the warm milk mixture, incorporating it gently with the spatula. Slow motion flan. Enjoy the process. Keep adding the milk in segments, slowly, until it’s all incorporated. If any lumps happened, strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve.
Assemble and bake:
The caramel hardened in the cake pan, isn’t that cool? For even more perfect flan insurance, hold the spatula over the caramel and slowwwwly pour the custard over it like a milk waterfall. Cover the cake pan with two layers of foil to make sure it’s fully covered.
Place the flan on the wire rack inside the baking dish and pour the boiling water from the kettle into the baking dish until it’s halfway up the flan pan’s sides. (If I need more water, I put the kettle back on and add it to the pan in the oven.) Carefully transfer the baking dish of boiling water and precious flan to the oven and bake for 45 to 60 minutes. Peel back the foil to see if the custard is set and has a slight jiggle (too much jiggle = it’s watery, keep baking).
Use mitts to remove the flan pan from the baking dish and let it cool somewhere in the kitchen. Refrigerate overnight (covered with foil) so it really sets.
Flip n’ serve:
Remove the foil and carefully run a long, sharp knife around the edges. Place a rimmed plate/platter over the flan dish and tell your sister to start filming. Get both hands on the dish and quickly flip it. Tap the bottom of the flan dish to let the flan know its time has come. Slowly lift the pan and marvel at your beautiful creation. Use a spatula to remove any remaining caramel in the pan.
Slice and serve. A little sherry would be nice.
P.S. 10 wonderful holiday rituals and three no-fuss recipes to make during the holidays.
Entertainment
Pennsylvania is suing Character.AI for allegedly practicing medicine without a license
Pennsylvania has taken the unusual step of suing an AI company for practicing medicine without a license.
In a lawsuit filed May 1, the state is targeting Character.AI after an investigator found a chatbot on the platform posing as a licensed psychiatrist and providing what the state characterizes as medical advice.
According to the complaint, filed by the Pennsylvania Department of State and State Board of Medicine, a Professional Conduct Investigator for the state created a free account on Character.AI and searched for psychiatric characters. He selected one called “Emilie,” described on the platform as a “Doctor of psychiatry.”
The investigator told Emilie he had been feeling sad, empty, tired, and unmotivated. The chatbot mentioned depression and offered to conduct an assessment to determine whether medication might help.
When pressed on whether she was licensed in Pennsylvania, Emilie said she was and even provided a specific license number. The state checked and found that the number doesn’t exist.
The complaint also states Emilie claimed she attended medical school at Imperial College London, has practiced for seven years, and holds a full specialty registration in psychiatry with the General Medical Council in the UK.
Mashable Light Speed
In a similar case, 404 Media reported last year that Instagram AI chatbots were pretending to be licensed therapists, even inventing license numbers when prompted for credentials by the user.
Pennsylvania is seeking an injunction ordering Character.AI to stop allowing its platform to engage in the unlawful practice of medicine. The company has more than 20 million monthly active users worldwide and hosts more than 18 million user-created chatbot characters, according to the complaint.
In an email to Mashable, a Character.AI spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit. Further, they added that “our highest priority is the safety and well-being of our users. The user-created Characters on our site are fictional and intended for entertainment and roleplaying.”
The spokesperson added that the company “prioritizes responsible product development and has robust internal reviews and red-teaming processes in place to assess relevant features.”
A much bigger legal battle looms over AI health
The Pennsylvania lawsuit lands in the middle of an already messy legal debate over what AI is actually allowed to tell you — and whether any of it is even admissible in court.
As Mashable’s Chase DiBenedetto reported, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has publicly advocated for “AI privilege,” arguing that chatbot conversations should be afforded the same legal protections as conversations with a therapist or an attorney. Courts have so far been split, with two federal judges reaching opposite conclusions on the question within weeks of each other earlier this year.
The stakes are high on both sides. Legal experts warn that sweeping AI privilege protections could effectively shield companies from accountability, making it harder to subpoena chat logs and internal records when something goes wrong. Meanwhile, health AI is booming — $1.4 billion flowed into healthcare-specific generative AI in 2025 alone, according to Menlo Ventures — and much of it operates outside of HIPAA protections.
Pennsylvania is one of several states to have introduced an AI Health bill this year, following a trend of states that aren’t waiting for Washington to act.
Entertainment
How to watch Bayern Munich vs. PSG online for free
TL;DR: Live stream Bayern Munich vs. PSG in the Champions League for free on RTÉ Player. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
Bayern Munich vs. PSG would have made an amazing Champions League final, but we should be happy that we’re getting two matchups between these electric teams. The first leg finished 5-4 to PSG. We’re not expecting the same again, because that was probably one of the best games of all time. If we get half that level of entertainment in the second leg, we’ll be delighted.
Expect more of the same from the likes of Michael Olise and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as these teams battle it out for a spot in the showpiece event. The winner will meet Arsenal at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest.
If you want to watch Bayern Munich vs. PSG in the Champions League from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
When is Bayern Munich vs. PSG?
Bayern Munich vs. PSG in the Champions League kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on May 6. This fixture takes place at the Allianz Arena.
How to watch Bayern Munich vs. PSG for free
Bayern Munich vs. PSG is available to live stream for free on RTÉ Player.
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RTÉ Player is geo-restricted to Ireland, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Ireland, meaning you can unblock RTÉ Player to stream the Champions League for free from anywhere in the world.
Live stream Bayern Munich vs. PSG for free by following these simple steps:
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Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
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Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
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Watch Bayern Munich vs. PSG for free from anywhere in the world
$12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee)
The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access free live streams of the Champions League without actually spending anything. This obviously isn’t a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream Bayern Munich vs. PSG (plus more Champions League fixtures) before recovering your investment.
If you want to retain permanent access to the best free streaming services from around the world, you’ll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPn for streaming live sport is on sale for a limited time.
What is the best VPN for RTÉ Player?
ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on RTÉ Player, for a number of reasons:
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Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
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A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).
Live stream Bayern Munich vs. PSG in the Champions League for free with ExpressVPN.
Entertainment
AI stocks are cooling — this ChatGPT trading tool keeps delivering
TL;DR: A ChatGPT-powered investing platform that helps you find and manage stocks with clearer signals—lifetime access for a one-time $54.97.
Credit: Sterling Stock Picker
The AI trade has seemingly had its moment — big runs, big headlines, big expectations. The AI fun is not over by any means. But now that things are settling, the real question is what comes next?
Instead of chasing whatever’s trending, Sterling Stock Picker leans into a more grounded approach: using a ChatGPT-powered assistant (Finley) to help you understand what’s actually happening inside a stock. You can ask questions about companies, sectors, or your own portfolio and get explanations that are tied to real data — not just surface-level summaries.
Mashable Deals
It also handles the heavy lifting most people avoid. The platform analyzes financials, growth metrics, and risk, then surfaces signals like whether a stock is worth buying, holding, or avoiding. There’s even a “North Star” system that simplifies that call into something actionable.
Mashable Trend Report
If you’re building from scratch, there’s a done-for-you portfolio builder that aligns with your risk tolerance. If you already have positions, it can suggest adjustments based on your portfolio’s performance.
One thing that stands out is how it balances guidance with transparency. You’re not just handed picks — you can see the reasoning behind them, which matters if you’re trying to build a repeatable process.
Have a lifetime way to pressure-test your judgment — especially in a market that’s moving past hype and into something more selective.
Get lifetime access to the ChatGPT-driven Sterling Stock Picker while it’s on sale for a one-time $54.97 payment (reg. $486) through May 10.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Pennsylvania is suing Character.AI for allegedly practicing medicine without a license
How to watch Bayern Munich vs. PSG online for free
