Once you've reached your desired color immediately pour the hot
caramel into the bottoms of the ramekins, portioning it equally.
Quickly and carefully swirl each ramekin to coat the bottom evenly.
Set aside at room temperature to let the caramel harden.
For the Custard:
Combine the milk, cream, sugar, and salt in a heavy bottomed saucepan
and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove the pan from the heat.
In a separate large bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla
together.
While constantly whisking, slowly add the hot milk mixture to the
eggs. Doing this slowly is called ‘tempering’ the eggs.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve to remove any lumps.
Divide the custard evenly between 8 ramekins.
Pour the hot water from the kettle into the baking pan until it comes
one-third of the way up the sides of the ramekins.
Bake the custards for roughly 35 minutes or until the edges are set
but the centers still jiggle slightly when gently shaken. Note the
custards will set firm once they have completely cooled down.
Carefully transfer the ramekins to a wire rack and cool completely.
Cover the ramekins with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 12
hours or up to 3 days.
To serve, run a small knife around the edge of each ramekin to loosen
the custard. Quickly invert each custard onto a plate. If it doesn’t
release right away, gently shake the ramekin from side to side a few
times to help it out.
Serve as is in the caramel sauce that comes from the ramekin. Add a
little cream and fruit if you want to go crazy.
