Crème Caramel

Method

1. Put 30 g of caster sugar and 1 tsp of water in the smallest heavy pan you have and set it over medium heat. Do not stir: let the sugar dissolve, then swirl the pan now and then as it colours, 4–5 minutes, until it is a deep amber and smells faintly bitter.
2. Pour the caramel immediately into a 150 ml ramekin and tilt it so the base is evenly coated. It will set hard as it cools — that is correct. Heat the oven to 160C (fan 140C) and boil a kettle.
3. Pour 130 ml of whole milk and 20 ml of double cream into the rinsed pan, add 0.25 tsp of vanilla extract and heat over low heat until it just steams and trembles at the edges. Do not let it boil; take it off the heat.
4. In a bowl, whisk 1 egg with 20 g of caster sugar and a pinch of fine salt just until smooth and pale — whisk gently, as air bubbles will spoil the texture. Pour the hot milk onto the egg in a thin stream, whisking all the time, so the egg warms without scrambling.