Will's Eats: Crème Caramel : Caramel Custard : LCB at Home : Lesson 2 : Part 1

This one's magic and not very difficult; which is why. no doubt, that it's such a popular dessert in restaurants. Easy for the kitchen to produce and a sort of flashy result.

You'll notice that the custard plate is sitting on the Le Cordon Bleu: At Home cookbook. I also referenced other sources for this dish and some were more "pure", using vanilla bean instead of extract; some advised straining the custard before pouring into the molds; thus, they're not identical in detailed technique or have exactly the same ingredients but all are the same in the basics and in the classic-ness of the result. That is to say... delicious.

Onwards. Read the whole recipe before starting. It's not complicated but does need to be done step by step.
What I actually did was...

Crème Renversée au Caramel : Caramel Custard

Serves: 6

Ingredients

Caramel

2/3 C sugar
1/3 C water

Custard

2 C milk (it was 2% - yuck)
2 T cream (there, that's better)
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
2 eggs
4 egg yolks
2/3 C sugar

Procedure

Oven to 175 C [350 F]
Have your custard cups standing by
Have an ice bath for the saucepan on standby
Make the caramel
1. Water and sugar into a small saucepan
2. Heat on low, stir more or less constantly until the sugar granules are dissolved
3. Remain on low or medium-low heat until the mix starts to boil
4. Crank to high, watch it boil, not stirring, not anything, until the edges of the syrup start to colour [color]
5. Continue watching, nervously, as the change overcomes the syrup - it can be quick once it starts so you ought to be paying attention
6. Lower to medium if you're concerned about burning it
7. Give the pan a little swirl to even out the color if you feel like it
8. Once it reaches a good golden brown take it off the heat and dunk the base into the ice bath to stop it cooking
Working quickly, pour some caramel into one ramekin (custard cup), give it a swirl to cover the bottom and part way up the sides
Do the other custard cups (ramekins) too - and quickly - this caramel sets up hard pretty fast
- Set the finished cups aside for later - it keeps for days, no problem
Put a pot of water on to boil (you need it later)
Make the custard
1. Another, probably bigger, saucepan with the milk and vanilla
2. Boil briefly and remove from the heat
3. Mix the eggs together in a heatproof bowl. Don't get them foamy when mixing
4. Add the sugar to the eggs, whisking/mixing gently to a nice sludgy effect
5. Gradually whisk the quite warm milk into the egg/sugar mixture (again, avoid a lot of foamy action while whisking)
Pour the resultant custard into the ramekins
Place the ramekins in a deep, heatproof, pan - add (hot/boiling) water 2/3 the way up the sides of the cups
On top of the stove - heat the pan to a light, slight, simmer
Then into the oven with it for 30 minutes
- Check that the custard is "set" - slip a knife into the custard top - it must come out clean
- Wait another 10 minutes, check again
- Wait 5 more, check again
- and again - - Ah ha! They're ready!
Remove from oven, remove from water bath, let cool - the cooked custards keep for days, no problem
To serve
1. cut completely around the edge of the mold/cup/ramekin
2. place a plate over it
3. flip the two
4. tap the underside of the plate (gently)
5. lift mold
6. The caramel will magically be melted and run all over the top (the former bottom) of the custard

Done

Notes

If the milk mixture if boiling hot going into the egg mixture you will be making sweet scrambled eggs
The water bath (bain marie) must never have the water boiling, not even simmering hard. It messes up the texture of the custard
Don't worry about the marks the knife makes from testing the custards for done-ness; they end up on the underside of the dish when you flip it over to serve
The custard must be completely cooked to be able to hold its form when flipped; don't skimp on the "doneness" of this dish. Medium rare won't serve your purposes. It could take up to 45/50 minutes to cook.
In the unlikely event that the custard fails try the recipe again- but add a 1/4 t of flour to the egg mixture (it's has to do with the protein binding of the egg or something)