When I was a teenager living in Brussels, I learnt how to make Crème Caramel the traditional way by whisking eggs and sugar together and then gradually whisking in the warm milk to make the custard mixture. However, years later, a South American colleague shared with me her method of using sweet condensed milk for this dessert and I got hooked on this ideas as it was so much quicker and easier to make!
I have taught this recipe in many countries around the world with great success. Even when I attended courses to become a pastry chef in Vienna, Austria I surprised the teachers by making this recipe, as I said Crème Caramel the easy way, and they were truly impressed by the results! Try it and I think you will also get hooked . . . as it is the perfect balance between lightness and indulgence!
Ingredients
8 - 10 tblsp sugar
1 x can sweet condensed milk (400g can)
1 ½ can milk (use condensed milk can as measure)
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
Preparation Method
Melt sugar in a non-stick pan. When caramelized, place sugar in a rectangular or circular aluminum mold or tin and quickly swirl hot caramel around tin, making sure that the bottom and sides are evenly covered. Set aside and allow caramel to harden.
Please be very careful when doing this step as the caramel gets very hot. Also, make sure to use kitchen mitts when covering the aluminum mold with the caramel as the mold itself will also get very hot!
Place sweet condensed milk, milk, eggs and vanilla essence in a bowl and mix carefully; either in mixer or with a whisk. Pour the custard over the hardened caramel in mold, (best done through a fine sieve) and cover top with aluminum foil.
Place mold in a bain-marie (water bath) and cook in preheated oven (180̊ - 200̊ C) for about 1 – 1 ½ hours or until your custard is set.
Remove mold with your custard from bain-marie in oven and leave to cool at room temperature. Once cooled, turn the creme caramel onto a serving plate and spoon any extra caramel syrup from mold over custard.
This dessert is always best when served at room temperature but if you are making it ahead of time, make sure to store it in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap, until ready to use. Actually, when making it ahead of time, I normally leave it in the tin and unmold the dessert about half an hour before use.
Yield: 6 generous servings
Tips!
To ensure a top result when unmolding, you can dip the mold with the crème caramel into some hot water for a few seconds before turning the custard onto serving plate.
For 12 servings use 2 x 400 g cans of condensed milk, double the milk and use large 5 eggs + vanilla essence
©KaritasM – August 2020