A decadent dessert is the perfect way to end a meal and Creme Caramel is a great choice. The smooth custard and silky caramel combine to make an elegant dessert with minimal effort. I have always presented this dessert to great applause from my guests. What they don’t know is I am tossing flour in my face to make it appear complicated, when in reality it is very easy to put together.
They key to the success of this Creme Caramel is to use fresh ingredients. Whole organic milk, a fresh vanilla bean, and some farm fresh eggs are the secret. It is what brings the dish from good to great.
With something this simple and tasty, it requires minimal garnish. At the most, you can put an edible flower on top to give it a bit of character however, this is not necessary. Just the caramel is a show stopper.
Enjoy it today with a nice little sip of Honey Grappa such as Poli Miele.
Preheat your oven to 300° and place the oven rack to the middle row of the oven.
First step is warm 6 white french ramekins. Place them into a baking dish and fill the baking dish with hot water unit the water is 1/4 up the sides of the ramekin.
In a small pot combine the 4 Tbsp water and 6 Tbsp sugar and cook over medium heat and bring to a raging bowl. Boil swirling the pot occasionally to move the sugar around creating a nice smooth liquid. Once the sugar has dissolved the mixture will begin to thicken and caramelize. Once it turns a golden brown quickly pour equally into the bottom of Ramekins ensuring to completely cover the bottom.
Set aside.
In a medium pot add the milk and the whole vanilla pod. (Tip: cut the vanilla pod down the middle lengthwise. Using the back of a butter knife, drag the knife down the pod insides to remove the beans. Place the beans in the pot as well as the whole pod.)
Bring the milk to a simmer with the bubbles forming around the edge of the pot. Do not let the milk come to a full boil. Remove from heat and remove the vanilla pod. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the whole eggs, the egg yolks, and the 1 cup of granulated sugar. Using a whisk, combine the eggs and sugar until they turn a nice light yellow and the sugar has completely dissolved.
Using a ladle, temper the milk mixture into the egg mixture by slowly adding the milk to the eggs one scoop at a time while whisking to incorporate. This will prevent the eggs from cooking and milk from curdling. Do this until all of the milk has been added.
Strain your milk mixture through a fine mesh sieve equally into the ramekins.
Place the baking dish in the oven, top the water bath with boiling water until it reaches half way up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for 60 minutes.
The custard should jiggle a little bit in the middle but hold form. Test with a knife. If when pierced it comes out clean the custard is ready to go. Remove from oven, remove from water bath. Wipe off water, and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
To serve, place a plate over the ramekin. Invert and tap the bottom of the Ramekin. You should here a suction release “Pop” sound. Remove the ramekin and the custard should be out on the plate with caramel pooling overtop.
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