Caramel Custard

Slide rack onto lower-middle level, and preheat the oven to 350°F. Cook the sugar and water to the caramel stage (see page 101), and pour half of it into the baking dish, swirling it rapidly around to coat bottom and sides. Add 4 to 5 tablespoons water to the remaining caramel in the pan and let simmer slowly to melt the caramel, thus turning it into a sauce for later.

Stir with a whisk (but do not beat and cause bubbles) the eggs, yolks, and sugar in a bowl to blend them. Then, a little at a time at first to dissolve the sugar, stir in the hot milk, then the vanilla and salt. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve into the caramelized dish. Set dish in a high-sided roasting pan on the oven rack, and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the outside of the dish.

Bake for about an hour, checking after 15 minutes to be sure water in roasting pan is maintained precisely at almost the simmer—little bubbles. If the water is too hot the custard will be grainy, but if not hot enough it will take hours to cook.