Recipe information
Yield
for a 2-quart straight-sided baking dish, serving 8 to 10
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Slide rack onto lower-middle level, and preheat the oven to 350°F. Cook the sugar and water to the caramel stage (see page 101), and pour half of it into the baking dish, swirling it rapidly around to coat bottom and sides. Add 4 to 5 tablespoons water to the remaining caramel in the pan and let simmer slowly to melt the caramel, thus turning it into a sauce for later.
Step 2
Stir with a whisk (but do not beat and cause bubbles) the eggs, yolks, and sugar in a bowl to blend them. Then, a little at a time at first to dissolve the sugar, stir in the hot milk, then the vanilla and salt. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve into the caramelized dish. Set dish in a high-sided roasting pan on the oven rack, and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the outside of the dish.
Step 3
Bake for about an hour, checking after 15 minutes to be sure water in roasting pan is maintained precisely at almost the simmer—little bubbles. If the water is too hot the custard will be grainy, but if not hot enough it will take hours to cook.
Step 4
When Is It Done? When the center still trembles slightly, but a skewer plunged in 1 inch from the edge comes out clean.
Step 5
Remove dish from roasting pan and let custard settle at least 30 minutes. The custard may be served warm, at room temperature, or chilled—if to be chilled, refrigerate, and cover when cold. (It can be refrigerated for 2 days.)
Step 6
To Unmold. Run a thin-bladed knife between custard and edge of dish. Turn a serving plate upside down over the dish and reverse the two—the custard will slowly slip out. Pour the reserved caramel sauce around the custard.
Variations
Step 7
INDIVIDUAL CARAMEL CUSTARDS. The preceding proportions will fill a dozen 2/3-cup Pyrex bowls 3 1/2 inches across. Line the bowls with caramel as described, fill with the custard mixture, and bake in a water bath at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes, until set at the edges but with a slight tremble at the center. Unmold for serving.
Step 8
INDIVIDUAL MACAROON CUSTARDS. Caramelize individual bowls, as described above, and when hardened, smear with butter. Sprinkle pulverized macaroons in them to cover bottom and sides. Fill with the custard mixture. Bake, and unmold as described.
