How to Make Classic Crème Caramel

Crème Caramel is a silky, creamy custard that has been baked in a caramel-coated ramekin. When the chilled custard is turned out onto a serving plate it should easily release and hold its shape– while the caramel sauce cascades over and fills the plate with a moat of delicious caramel. Making caramel can seem intimidating, but this recipe will show you a fool-proof way to make your own caramel.

I absolutely adore caramel! Add to that a silky custard and I’m in!

Look at that! Crème Caramel… Flan… they’re pretty much the same thing (though Flan can also be savory). I’ve posted a Pressure Cooker Flan that turned out great. So, why post another recipe? Great question and there are a couple of reasons.

• There are two ways to make caramel: the “dry” method where you melt sugar or there is a “wet” method, where you dissolve the sugar in liquid.
• I wanted to bake the flan in a traditional oven for a change, and I wanted to try the “wet” method.

To make the caramel, add water, corn syrup and a little lemon juice before dissolving the sugar. These added ingredients give insurance that the sugar won’t crystallize. (You can see how I learned to deal with that fiasco, in my post for Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream. )

I photographed the various stages of getting the caramel to cook to just the right color– a rich amber. This is one of those times when you have to babysit the pot and don’t walk away. I found that I could easily just swirl the pot every so often. The very moment that I got the amber color, I immediately removed the pot from the stove, and then poured the caramel into ramekins. This stuff is molten lava hot! Oh, and how do you clean out the pan? I simply soak mine in hot water and it dissolves and washes away. Or, you could fill the pot with water, heat it on the stove and it should clean right up!

So, now, for the custard. Why make the caramel first? If you reversed the order by making the custard, first, you might run the risk of the hot cream melting into the caramel– and then you’d have caramel custard!

My recipe said to use “light cream”. I gasped. Light cream? I have half and half, heavy cream and I have whole milk– but what is “light cream”? Some internet researched made me realize that is whipping cream and has less fat content than heavy cream (obvi). Apparently half and half doesn’t have as much fat content and light cream! What to do?! Well, I’ll just go half heavy cream and half of the half and half. (Say that fast three times!) Confused? So was I! I didn’t want to run to the grocery store, so I just crossed my fingers this would work.

While the milk/cream mixture was coming to the point of steaming (not boiling), I whisked together eggs, egg yolks and sugar. NOTE: The combination of whole eggs and egg yolks was to give the custard a perfect structure– that wouldn’t have a rubbery texture. Once the cream mixture reached about 160F, it was quickly whisked into the egg mixture.

Using a mesh strainer, the custard was strained to remove any bits that might have accumulated.

Evenly divide the custard into each caramel-filled ramekin

In a roasting (or deep baking dish) pan, setting a tea towel (or silicone mat) on the bottom will keep the ramekins from sliding. Place the pan into a 350F oven.

What I did not photograph is that, once the pan is in the oven (with the rack out), carefully pour boiling water (in a tea kettle, ideally) on the edge of the pan– filling the ramekins about half way with water. Why is this necessary? This helps the custards to bake evenly. Last, but not least, loosely cover the pan with foil so that the steam would become trapped.

My recipe said to bake for about 40 minutes. However, when I slid a paring knife halfway to the center of a ramekin, it came out with wet custard. So, back into the oven they went. Finally, after closer to an hour, my paring knife came out clean, and the custard was a bit jiggly

Now, we wait. L these cool for a little over an hour until they are at room temperature. Once cooled, cover the whole tray with foil and refrigerate them for a few more hours– until our company arrived for dinner.

One of the trickiest moments of making a Crème Caramel (or flan) is hoping that when you flip it over, that the custard will release and not end up a gooey, floppy mess. To do this, take a paring knife and run it around the ramekin, set a plate on top and flip it. (My dinner guests watched with great interest.)

Here’s one of my glass dishes I used– just I could show the magic. Once the plate is flipped, give a gentle shake. Much to my relief, the custard released– and my dinner guests exhaled along with me!

Wow! Look at that pool of golden, delicious caramel sauce! We all dug in!

TASTING NOTES: I was inspired to make this dessert, because one of my dinners guests is gluten-free. Okay, okay… this is also very high on my “favorite desserts”. The custard was silky and creamy and very light. The caramel sauce was spot on perfect. My guests kept marveling at how much work this must’ve been to make. Honestly? It wasn’t. I replied that the only trick was not burning the caramel. Other than that, I didn’t find this to be hard work– but it definitely takes patience to wait for these to chill. They are so worth it!

Can you make these ahead of time? You bet! In fact, there were a few leftover the next day. The might, or might have not, been part of brunch. If you’ve never made caramel, this recipe is pretty fool-proof. I hope you try it.