It took me over thirty years to discover how incredibly good Creme Caramel is, but… better late than never! Again, behind this discovery there is the legendary Aunt Irene who also explained to me how to make a perfect one. Difficult? No really. So try it without hesitation: you can never have enough of Creme Caramel..
This recipe, revisited, comes from Ada Boni’s book.
Ingredients
- 3 whole eggs and three yolks
- 500 ml of whole milk
- 250 g of granulated sugar (150 in the milk and 100 for the caramel)
- vanilla (pod), if you like
- a large strainer, a large baking tray
In a saucepan, heat the milk with 150 g of sugar and the vanilla. Bring to the boil and turn off.
Place a large pot full of water on the heat and bring to the boil.
In the meantime, take a mold for the Creme Caramel: if you have a fairly heavy aluminum ring-shaped one it would be perfect, otherwise choose a 20-22 cm diameter mold or pudding moulds. Place the mold with 100g of sugar on the stove over low heat, without touching it, wait for it to melt slowly and let it caramelise until it becomes blonde (be careful and don’t overdo it, otherwise it will burn in an instant and you will have to start over again.
Place the mold with the caramel in a tall, large baking tray that can hold your creme caramel mould. At this point, fill the pan with the water you boiled. The water should reach just below the edge of the creme caramel mould.
Break the eggs into a bowl and add the yolks, mix well with a fork (WITHOUT WHIPPING) so that everything is well blended.
Add the hot milk slowly and incorporate it all, mixing the mixture well. Using a strainer, pour – filtering it – the milk and egg mixture into the creme caramel mold until it is full (some denser parts of the egg will remain in the strainer).
Bake at 180°C for about 30-40 minutes. The water must never boil, but remain very hot. In fact, the creme caramel is cooked in a slow bain-marie, which allows the proteins contained in the egg white to solidify everything. To make sure it is cooked, touch the surface (it must be firm but soft) or test with a toothpick.
Remove from the oven and leave the mold immersed in water for another 10 minutes.
At that point you can turn it out while it is warm (use a small knife to separate it from the edges of the mold) and gently turn it onto a serving plate and serve. Or once cold you can put it in the fridge for a few hours: when ready to serve, immerse the mold in hot water for a few seconds, to allow the caramel to melt a little, and then gently tip it onto the serving plate.
If you have cooked it well, in hot but not too hot water, the creme caramel will have a perfect consistency, silky and soft, without micro holes. If there are pinholes, it will still be good, but next time make sure the water is not boiling or too hot (it could give a “cooked egg” taste).
And now, my belly, make a hut, happy Creme Caramel everyone!
