Ingredients:
Caramel/Burnt Sugar:
400 g sugar
Custard:
400 g eggs (8)
200 g sugar
5 g vanilla extract
1 L milk (no less than 2%, I used 3.25%)
To Make (about 15 mins):
-Set out 12-13 small ramekins (3-inch diameter) or aluminum cups in a baking pan with high edges
Caramel/Burnt Sugar:
-Fill a medium pot with sugar and set over high heat. Make sure the pot is very clean, since any dirty parts will burn (and you will smell it, which - trust me - you don't want to do)
- There's different ways of doing this; one way is to make the caramel in increments, by only putting enough sugar to cover the bottom of the pot each time, and waiting for it to melt before adding more.
-Alternatively, you can be efficient and just dump everything in at once! It works just as well :)
Make sure to stir constantly until it melts!
-Once the sugar turns an amber color like below it's done! This should only take about 3-4 minutes. Hopefully you have no lumps of sugar remaining; if you do you can stir vigorously for another 15 sec or so, but don't leave it on the fire any longer than that because the sugar will continue to cook even when taken off the fire, and you don't want to risk actually burning it
-Now working quickly, pour a little bit of the caramel into the bottom of each ramekin - just enough to cover the bottom
-The sugar will continue turning a darker color and hardening as soon as you take it off the fire, so you have just a few minutes to do this
Warning: pot might be heavy, so have a cloth or something around to help you keep it steady as you pour
-Once you're done you can pour any remaining caramel on parchment paper and let cool; you won't need it for this recipe but you can always use it later! Be creative
-Fill the pot with water and set over med fire; it will soften any remaining caramel and make clean-up easier later on!
Custard:
-Mix eggs and 200 g sugar in a bowl until blended, then add vanilla and milk slowly and mix until incorporated.
-After adding the milk mix slowly; you want as little foam as possible
-Once done pass mixture through a sieve to remove lumps and some of the foam. You can use a spoon to carefully skim the top and remove excess foam as well; any foam that remains at the end will burn to a dark brown color in the oven, which we don't want.
-After making sure the caramel has cooled at the bottom of the ramekins, pour the custard into each, making sure to spread it evenly.
To Bake (40-60 mins):
-Preheat oven to 350F
-Take the pan filled with the ramekins and place in oven, then carefully pour about 1L warm water on the bottom of the pan; it should come up to about half the height of the ramekins.
-Leave in oven for about 40 mins, until the custard has set
-To check, either jiggle the ramekins (the custard shouldn't move much) or take your finger and pull at the top of one of the custards until a small cut appears; if no extra custard flows up to fill the opening, then it has sufficiently set.
-Take out of oven and let cool (otherwise it tastes quite odd, of warm, sugary, milky eggs); to serve take a sharp knife and run it around the edge of the ramekin, then overturn it onto a plate.
*Note: During baking the bottom sugar layer melts a bit forming the delicious sugar syrup. The more you let it sit, the more it melts and incorporates into the rest of the custard. Therefore, if you eat it within the first day or so (and nobody will blame you for doing so) you will probably have a layer of solid sugar remain on the bottom of the ramekin; if you leave the dessert intact for an extra day or two this layer is likely to melt away.
