Many years ago, I somehow got the impression that crème caramel, aka flan, was my younger daughter’s favorite dessert. It must have been a weird conversation because she got the impression that it was mine.
It took us years, years I tell you, to figure out that we both misunderstood. Truth is, we both like it but it is not our favorite dessert. That may have changed for me with this recipe. I’m not a huge sweet lover but this crème caramel is just the perfect amount of sweet. It’s the creamiest, the softest, the very best crème caramel I’ve ever tasted. Seriously.
Classic Crème Caramel
This recipe is adapted from one shared a couple of years ago by my fellow Bundt Baker, Felice from All That’s Left Are the Crumbs. It couldn’t be easier to make since the custard ingredients are blitzed together in a blender. The caramelized sugar is a little bit tricky but very manageable. I promise you the effort is worth it.Ingredients
6 large eggs
1 can (weight - 14 oz or 396g) sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups or 354ml evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups or 354ml whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups or 250g sugar
Method
Preheat oven to 350℉ or 180℃.
Place your eggs in the blender and blend on medium high for about 15 seconds. I suggest you crack each egg into a small bowl before adding them to the blender. If you add a bad egg to the mix, you'll have to throw them all out and start again. Better safe than sorry.
Add the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and whole milk to the blender, along with the vanilla. Blend on medium high for 30 seconds; set aside.
Place sugar in a dry saucepan and cook over medium high heat for about 5 minutes, until it starts to melt and turn golden in a few spots. If it should start to form clumps, break them up with a spoon and cook until the sugar liquefies again and turns completely golden. Be careful to take the syrup off the heat promptly because it can burn easily at this point.
Meanwhile, put a full kettle on to boil. You are going to need enough hot water to fill a roasting pan to at least two inches or 5cm up the side of a 12-cup Bundt pan.
Warm your Bundt pan by sitting it in a bowl with hot tap water. Use a silicone pastry brush to coat the Bundt pan with the golden caramel halfway up the sides of the pan, including the tube in the middle. If you live somewhere really warm, perhaps warming the pan wouldn’t be necessary but my kitchen was chilly and as I brushed the caramel on the cold pan, it solidified immediately. Warming the pan helped.
Place the Bundt pan into a deep roasting pan and carefully fill it with the vanilla custard.
Put the roasting pan with Bundt pan into your preheated oven, then pour hot water into the roasting pan, about 2 in or 5cm up the side of the Bundt pan.
Bake the crème caramel for 55-60 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
After removing it from the oven, leave it to cool for a few minutes on a wire rack, then use a rounded knife to ease the crème caramel away from the Bundt pan, around the edges and around the center tube.
After the crème caramel has cooled, tilt the Bundt pan back and forth gently, until you can see the caramel oozing up the sides of the pan.
Cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Tilt the Bundt pan again to see how thick your caramel is. Mine was still thin enough to seep up the sides. If yours is very thick, you might want to warm the Bundt pan briefly by setting it in a bowl of warm water to loosen the caramel before turning the crème caramel out.
To turn the crème caramel out of the Bundt pan, invert a rimmed platter on top of the Bundt pan. Note: The rim is very important because we don’t want to have the caramel roll off a flat platter!
Hold the platter tight against the Bundt pan and quickly flip the pan over, being careful not to lose the liquid caramel. I did this over the sink, just in case, but I am pleased to say I didn’t spill a drop. If you have someone nearby who can help you in the kitchen, have them take the platter from you when you flip it over.
Keep the crème caramel chilled until you are ready to cut and serve.
Enjoy!
This month my Bundt Bakers are sharing puddings baked in Bundt pans. Many thanks to our host, Sneha of Sneha’s Recipe, for the great theme and her behind the scenes work. Check out all of the great pudding Bundt recipes:
- Baked Bread Pudding Bundt from Sneha's Recipe
- Banana Pudding Bundt Cake from Making Miracles
- Brioche Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding Bundlets from Sweet Sensations
- Classic Crème Caramel from Food Lust People Love
- Leftover Chocolate Donut Pudding from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Sticky Toffee Pudding Bundt Cake from Patyco Candybar
#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.
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