Caramel Custards

Caramel Custards

These are somewhere in between the rich custard of Crème Brulee and the less dense custard of flan. They are served like flan…flipped upside down with the caramelized sugar as a sauce. We serve them with fresh fruit and people love them. (Even people who don’t like flan)

You will need eight 6 oz ramekins…A ramekin is a short ceramic bowl with vertical sides. We bought ours at Wal-Mart for 86 cents each and think that they are well worth it. We also use them for Crème Brulee and Molten Lava Cakes.

Caramel:

½ cup water

1 and ¼ cups sugar

Custard:

3 eggs

2 egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla

¼ tsp salt

¾ cup sugar

3 cups Half and Half

Caramel:

Place water in saucepan and pour sugar into middle of the sauce pan being careful not to get any on the sides. Wet the sugar and heat (medium high) without stirring until liquid starts to color. Reduce heat to medium low and cook until sugar is a dark amber color – about 350 F. Pour immediately into eight 6oz ramekins. (or six 8oz ramekins) The carmelized sugar will cool and harden.

Place the ramekins on a towel in a roasting pan (or cake pan if they will fit). The towel is to keep them from sliding around when you fill the pan with boiling water later.

The Custard:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Start to boil enough water to fill your roasting pan about half full (not half empty)

2. Beat the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, salt and ¾ cup sugar together until smooth. Heat the Half and Half until steamy and the pour slowly into the egg mixture while beating rapidly.

3. Although the custard could be poured into the ramekins at this point we recommend straining it through a fine strainer before pouring it into the ramekins. Try to spread the custard evenly into the ramekins.

4. Place the roasting pan in the oven and fill with enough boiling water to reach half way up the sides of the ramekins. Be careful not to slosh water into your custards

5. Bake for 35- 40 minutes until a thin knife inserted halfway between the center and the side comes out clean.

6. If you can remove the pan from the oven without spilling the water into the custards you may do so. If you are worried about your ability to perform such a task (as you probably should be) Then you can do what we do: We leave the pan in the oven and grab the ramekins with a pair of tongs and slide them onto a spatula (not flexible) and remove them one by one. (Be careful not to burn yourself on the top or sides of the oven…or the pan…or the ramekins…just be careful)

7. Let the custards cool for 2 hours and then wrap tightly in plastic wrap before placing them in the fridge. They must be refrigerated a minimum of 2 hours and it better if it’s longer We leave them overnight. They can be left for an extra day and are still just as good, but we can’t vouch for any longer than that because we have never had them last that long.

8. To serve: Run a knife around the edge of the ramekin. Place the serving plate over the ramekin and invert. We find that shaking the ramekin side to side works the best at releasing the custard from the ramekin. Also you may need to lift the ramekin slightly off of the plate as the caramel pours out because it will create a suction and stick the plate to the ramekin…then it is difficult to free your dessert!

9. Garnish with whatever you like or like my wife with nothing at all.