Creme Caramel

Here’s a yummy dessert which for some reason I hadn’t made for many years. I see now how easy it is to prepare; it’s amazing when I look back through the years (the many years!), and remember how, in my mind, a specific dish was too time-consuming to prepare. For some reason, which I don’t understand, that’s what I thought about Creme Caramel.
This is a super easy recipe, and the results are light, creamy, and not too sweet.

Creme Caramel MUST be prepared at least several hours (overnight is perfect) in advance, so it can sit in the refrigerator and get cold and firmed up, before unmolding it carefully onto a serving plate for a beautiful presentation.

I like to use a ring mold, but you can use any shape you like.

Ingredients:

For the caramel sauce

• 6-7 Tablespoons granulated white sugar

For the actual Creme Caramel

• 5 whole large eggs
• 4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 cups of cold milk
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

Preparation:

1. First prepare the caramel sauce: In a heavy pan or pot, put the 6-7 Tablespoons granulated white sugar. Cook, stirring, until it begins to melt; it should reach a nice, rich, golden color; do not allow it to get too dark, because then the caramel becomes bitter.
2. Immediately pour into the mold or pyrex that you are going to use for the Creme Caramel, and swirl it around as fast as you can so that the bottom is coated; it doesn’t have to be too even, since it will melt in the oven later; but try to get it to coat the bottom before it hardens (it hardens VERY quickly, so you have to work fast).
3. Put aside while you make the Creme Caramel; it will harden, and you will hear it “cracking”; that is fine!
4. The Creme: In the mixing bowl of the mixer, place the 5 eggs and 4 Tablespoons sugar. Beat it until it is light in color and foamy. You can use the regular stand mixer or a good hand mixer for this.
5. To the egg mixture, add the 2 1/2 cups milk, and beat till all is incorporated.
6. Add 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract.
7. Through a fine strainer, pour mixture into the mold which you have already prepared with the caramel, which is at this point hard and “cracking”. The reason for the strainer is so that the creme will be super smooth.
8. Place the filled mold carefully into a big baking pan filled with water (the water should be about 2-3 cm or an inch high). This is important so that when the creme caramel bakes, it doesn’t form a hard crust.
9. Bake at 150 C or 320 F for about 40 minutes – to check if it is firm enough to take out of the oven, give the pan a little “knock” and see if it looks firm; you can also carefully put the tip of a knife into the top of the creme, and see if it comes out clean.
10. Remove from the oven, and allow to come to room temperature.
11. Refrigerate, covered, overnight.
12. Unmold: Use a serving plate with sides that go up a bit so that the caramel sauce doesn’t escape onto the table….
    Carefully. with the tip of the thinnest and sharpest knife you have (a very small knife with a pointed tip is the best kind to use), go around the sides of the mold (and if you are using a ring mold, go around the middle also, where the “hole” of the mold is. This serves to slightly separate the creme from the mold, and enable a “safer” unmolding.
    Be sure to press the side of the knife to the mold, and not to the creme, so as not to tear the creme….
13. QUICKLY turn mold over and place it upside down on the serving plate. The creme caramel should, within a few seconds, slide out of the mold onto the plate. Be careful that this doesn’t happen WHILE turning it over, because then it may break….
14. The caramel sauce will also come out. What I suggest, is that when you refrigerate the creme caramel, and if it has kept its shape exactly, and not spread too much, place the as-yet-unwashed mold on top of the creme caramel; then cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap, and refrigerate. Some of the hard caramel which still remained in the mold, will melt onto the creme. If you do this, it has to be done super carefully to make sure that you don’t break the molded cream. If you don’t want to risk it, then just refrigerate the creme caramel with a high-enough cake dome on it; make sure that it doesn’t actually touch the unmolded cream, so as not to break it….
15. Enjoy!