Creme caramel is a classic, simple, and elegant soft dessert beloved by young and old alike: discover how to prepare it to perfection!
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes-1 hour
Resting time: 6 hours
Difficulty: Easy
Serves: 8
Ingredients
For the Crème Caramel
- 1/3 cup/80g superfine (caster) sugar
- Scant ¼ cup/25g cornstarch (cornflour)
- 11/3 cups/400ml whole (full-fat) milk
- 397-g can of sweetened condensed milk
- grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
- 4 eggs
- edible flowers for decoration
Equipment needed
- small saucepan
- 20-cm shallow baking dish or
- 8-cm pudding moulds
- bowl
- hand whisk
- measuring cup or jug
- zester
- immersion (stick) blender
- deep-sided roasting pan (tin)
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C/140°C Fan/Gas 3. Place the sugar in a small saucepan with 3 tablespoons of water and heat until you obtain an amber-colored caramel. Pour enough into the baking dish or individual moulds to cover the base.
Place the cornstarch (cornflour) in a bowl and mix with the milk using a hand whisk. Add the sweetened condensed milk, lemon zest, and eggs, then blitz with an immersion (stick) blender.
Arrange the baking dish or moulds in a deep-sided roasting pan (tin), and fill with the creme. Carefully pour boiling water into the roasting pan so that the water comes two-thirds up the side of the dish or moulds. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour for a large dish and 40 minutes for individual dishes, or until just set.
Remove the dish or moulds and leave to cool, then put in the refrigerator for 6 hours. If cooking in a single baking dish, serve slices on individual serving plates with some caramel from the base of the dish spooned over the top. If cooked in individual moulds, turn out the creme caramels onto individual serving plates, pouring over any caramel in the base of the moulds. Decorate with edible flowers before serving.
Recipe extracted from The Italian Bakery by The Silver Spoon Kitchen RRP $70, Phaidon
Photography —Haarala Hamilton
