Crème caramel — vanilla custard with caramel sauce

Preheat the oven to 150°C, conventional top and bottom heat, without the fan. Prepare 6 smooth ovenproof porcelain molds of 180–200 ml each, with straight or slightly flared sides, and a larger deep metal baking dish. The molds should be dry and at room temperature. Do not grease them. Set them near the saucepan so you can divide the hot caramel promptly.

Combine 90 g sugar and 30 g water in a small saucepan with a heavy, light-colored base. Heat gently, stirring only until the sugar is moistened and dissolved. Once boiling, do not stir with a spoon; carefully swirl the pan if needed. Cook until evenly amber, without dark smoke. Remove from the heat immediately because the caramel continues to darken. Do not touch it and do not taste it while hot; do not add any more water.

Promptly divide the liquid caramel among all 6 molds, carefully tilting each to coat the bottom thinly. Hold the hot porcelain with a dry oven mitt. Use all the pourable caramel from the pan, without reserving any for decoration. Leave the molds for a few minutes; the caramel will harden and may crack. This is normal: moisture from the custard will dissolve it later.

Pour 500 g milk into a clean saucepan and add 70 g sugar and 8 g sugar with real vanilla. Heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves, the milk is visibly steaming and small bubbles appear around the edge. Do not bring to a rolling boil and do not cook for a long time. Remove the pan from the heat. All the milk and vanilla will go into the custard.

In a bowl, gently whisk 150 g whole eggs and 40 g extra yolks just until combined, without whipping in foam. Pour in about one third of the hot milk in a thin stream, whisking gently throughout. Then gradually add the remaining milk and scrape in all the pan contents. Do not pour all the hot milk at once onto unstirred eggs and do not aerate the mixture.

Let the mixture stand for about 5 minutes so larger bubbles subside. Pour into a pitcher, then divide as evenly as possible over the set caramel, using everything from the bowl. Leave room below the mold rims. Do not strain out any of the custard and do not add water to thin it. You can pop individual visible surface bubbles with the tip of a teaspoon.

Place the filled molds in the metal dish and slide it onto the middle oven rack. Carefully pour hot water around them to about halfway up the molds, usually 1–1½ l depending on the dish. Water must not enter the custard. Cover the dish with a loose tent of aluminum foil, without touching the mixture and without sealing tightly. The bath water is not served or added to the dessert.

Bake for about 40–50 minutes. The edges should be set and the center should wobble slightly as a whole when the mold is gently moved, without a rippling liquid layer. The custard should not noticeably rise, bubble or brown deeply. Remove the foil carefully, keeping your face away from the steam. Lift the molds out of the bath with tongs that grip firmly or dry oven mitts; do not move the entire dish full of hot water.

Set the molds on a rack for about 30–45 minutes, until no longer hot. Do not leave them on the counter for several hours. Cover each individually and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight. The custard will firm up while the caramel absorbs moisture and becomes liquid. Do not unmold the dessert while warm and do not shorten chilling by freezing it.

Run a thin knife just inside the wall of each cold mold. Place a small plate on top, hold both firmly and turn over in one confident movement. Wait briefly for the custard to slide out, then lift the mold straight up. If it sticks, warm its base for 10–15 seconds in warm, not boiling water, dry it and repeat. Pour all the liquid caramel from the mold onto the plate, without adding water to the sauce.

One mold with all its sauce is one of the 6 servings. Serve cold, without whipped cream, fruit or extra caramel. Keep the remaining custards covered in their molds in the refrigerator for up to 2 days after preparation, turning them out only just before serving. Leave the water bath to cool and discard its water; do not use it as part of the dessert.