Crème Caramel from Mum's Kitchen

A few years ago now my son suggested that I make a recipe book for his partner of all the things I used to make when he and his siblings were growing up.  I was a little apprehensive as I thought she might think I didn't think she could cook.  This was not the case at all and when I presented her with her gift at Christmas she was thrilled with it and has continued to add her own favorites as well as other recipes from her own family.  Then during lockdown I was talking to my daughter who was looking for a desert for their stay at home special occasion meal and we came up with Crème Caramel. The meal  was a great success after which  she suggested I set up a family face book page for the family and add recipe's to it something that her and the rest of family can all refer to hopefully long after I am gone. We decided to call it Mum's Kitchen and we all add recipes and photographs of the things we make,  

Some might think that Crème Caramel was a bit old hat and it was something I hadn't  made  for such along time but when I did as it was still as delicious as I remembered and far better than those little ones in plastic pots in the supermarket.  

If you would like to have ago yourself you will need a few things from your Nigella under the stairs cupboard.

Ingredients

For the caramel · 160g/6oz sugar · unsalted butter, for greasing the ramekins

For the custard · 4 free-range eggs · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 30g/1oz caster sugar · 500ml full-fat milk

     

In addition you will need 4 small ramakin dishes or jelly moulds

Method

1. Pre-heat oven 150C/300F/Gas 2. Warm the ramekins in the oven, so they are warm when the caramel is poured in.

2. First make the caramel. Pour the sugar and six tablespoons of water into a clean stainless steel pan.

3. Dissolve the sugar slowly, stirring with a wooden spoon over a low heat.

4. When there are no sugar granules left, stop stirring and boil until the sugar turns a dark copper colour.

5. Remove immediately from the heat to ensure the caramel does not burn. Quickly pour the caramel into the warmed ramekins.

6. Set aside to cool and become hard. (Do not put in the fridge because the sugar will absorb moisture and go soft and tacky).

7. Once hard, butter the sides of the ramekins above the level of the caramel.

8. For the custard, whisk the eggs, vanilla extract and caster sugar together in a bowl until well mixed.

9. Pour the milk into a saucepan, gently heat over a low heat until you can still just dip your finger in for a moment, then strain the milk through a fine sieve onto the egg mixture in the bowl.

10. Whisk together until smooth, then pour the mixture into the prepared ramekins.

11. Stand the ramekins in a roasting tin and fill within 1cm of the ramekins with boiling water from a kettle.

12. Cook in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the custard has set. Do not overcook the custard – check around the edges of the dishes, to make sure no bubbles are appearing.

13. Take the crème caramels out of the oven, remove the ramekins from the tray and set on a cooling rack. When cool, transfer to the fridge overnight so that the caramel is absorbed into the custard.

14. To serve, loosen the sides of the custard by lightly pressing the custard away from the side of the ramekin and loosen. Place a serving dish on top of the ramekin and turn upside down. Lightly shake once to loosen the crème caramel out of the ramekin and onto the plate.

Serve with cream or on it’s own.

💗

I hope you will enjoy making it as much as we did, and if you did maybe you could start your own family recipe page a project for winter months.

Mx