With a hat tip to Nigella Lawson’s crème caramel for one. I edited slightly to make it for two. This recipe makes two generous crème’s, about a half cup each. I usually like to have a daylight picture, but since I made this December 28th, my Dad’s 105th birthday (tho he is not here to celebrate) and since the crème had to chill before being turned out of the ramekins which happened after dark on a short December day, and since we ate them all up right away, artificial light pics will have to do.
Special equipment: two ramekins or small glass canning jars that hold at least 7 liquid ounces
For the caramel:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons water
For the custard:
1 cup whole milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
4 teaspoons sugar (or one heaping tablespoon)
2 large egg yolks
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
To make the caramel, combine the sugar and water in a small sauce pan with a heavy bottom. Place over medium-high eat and, in the words of Bronwen Wyatt, gently move the sugar around for a few minutes until it’s dissolved. Don’t stir after that although you can swirl the pan as needed to keep it cooking evenly. Let the caramel start bubbling and lower the heat as necessary and watch closely until it’s a nice golden caramel color. This can happen quite quickly with such a small amount of caramel. When it’s a good color, carefully pour half into each of your ramekins and tilt them to cover the bottoms. Don’t wash the pan yet.
Heat the oven to 300°. Locate a roasting pan that will hold the two ramekins. Boil a kettle of water.
For the custard, combine the milk and cream and heat until steaming but not boiling in the saucepan that you used for caramel. This will melt any remaining caramel that was stuck to the pan into the milk, to give it more caramel flavor. While the milk heats, combine the egg, egg yolks, and sugar in a mixing bowl or spouted glass measuring pitcher, at least two cups – I used a quart one. Nigella recommends a silicone spatula for this rather than a whisk so you don’t introduce too many bubbles into your custard. Certainly worked well for me. When the milk/cream mixture is warm, pour it into the egg, yolks, and sugar mixture and blend well with the spatula. Add the vanilla. Strain the custard into your caramel-lined ramekins.
Cover each ramekin with its own small piece of foil, and place them in the roasting pan.
Place the roasting pan in the oven and pour boiling water in up to a couple of inches up the sides of the ramekins. Push the oven rack in carefully and cook the custards for 25-27 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and cook another 18-20 minutes. They will still be quite jiggly.
Cool to room temperature and then chill the creme caramel for as long as you have – I had 4 hours, which is probably the minimum – and up to overnight. Unmold and serve. If the creme hasn’t has a really long chill, some of the caramel will still be stuck to the bottom of the ramekin. You can dislodge this with a knife and have some crunchy shards to top your custards as show here.
