Caramel Custard

Caramel Custard

Ingredients

For Caramel

§         Sugar – 50 gms *

§         Water – 4 tbsp

For Custard

§         Eggs                  – 4

§         Vanilla extract     – 1 tsp

§         Regular sugar      – 100 gms

§         Milk                   – 500 ml (Full Fat recommended)

Method

1.      Preheat oven to 150°C .

2.      Warm the baking tin/bow in the oven, so they are warm when the caramel is poured in.

3.      Caramel :  

• Combine sugar and 4 tbsp of water into a saucepan.
• Dissolve the sugar slowly, over a low heat. Boil until the sugar turns a copper color.
• Remove immediately from the heat to ensure the caramel does not burn. Overcooking the sugar gives the caramel a bitter taste.
• Pour the caramel into the baking tin/bowl. Coat the bottom and the sides of the baking tin with the caramel.
• The portions of the tin, not coated with the caramel, grease it with butter. This will help while unmolding the custard onto the serving plate.

4.      Custard :

• Whisk eggs in a bowl. Now add sugar and vanilla extract. Mix well.
• Pour the milk into a saucepan, gently heat over a low heat. Just about lukewarm.
• Strain the milk through a fine sieve onto the egg mixture. This will give the smooth crème texture to the custard.
• Whisk all, until you get a smooth mixture.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared caramel bowl. You make even hear the caramel cracking sound :).
• You need to give the custard hot water bath ! ... Put the baking bowl in the baking tray and fill it with Hot water. Its good to dip the custard bowl 3/4th into the hot water.
• To protect the top of the custard from the direct heat of the oven, loosely lay a sheet of tin/aluminum foil flat over the bowl, but dont secure it down. The direct heat leads to cracking of the upper surface of the custard.
• Cook in the oven for about 30-35 minutes or until the custard has set. **
• Cool the custard on a cooling rack.

5.      When cool, keep the custard in the fridge for few hours so that the caramel is absorbed into the custard and its set properly.

6.      To unmold, loosen the sides of the custard by tipping the custard bowl and loosen with a small sharp knife around the edges. Place a serving dish on top of the bowl and turn upside down.

*   You can increase the amount of caramel, depending upon you sweet taste J

** When you press the top of the custard lightly, it bounces. One more way of understanding the doneness of custard is, you see no bubbles coming out, around the edges of the bowl.

Serving

§         I like my caramel custard as it is J, but you can combine it lil bit of whip crème and some fresh seasonal fruits like mangoes, oranges, strawberry …. and the list goes on!!

Try this recipe and share your comments and/or suggestions.