Crème Brulee 

Ingredients: 

12 egg yolks
12 Tbs. plus 3 tsp. sugar (preferably superfine)
3 cups heavy cream
custard cups or ramekins 

Preparation: 

Start by whisking egg yolks and sugar together in a large bowl until the sugar is dissolved. While whisking, heat cream in a heavy saucepan until it is very hot, but not boiling. The cream is ready when a skin first starts to form on the surface. 

Slowly pour the cream into the yolk-and-sugar mixture, whisking constantly (figure A). Be careful to add the cream very slowly to avoid burning the milk. Fill custard cups or ramekins with about six ounces each of the custard mixture (figure B). 

To make crème caramel instead of brulee, simply caramelize some sugar on the stovetop and pour about one tablespoon of the liquid sugar mixture into a custard cup before adding the custard (figure C). 

Place a dishtowel in the bottom of a glass casserole dish, and set the custard cups on the towel. Add hot water to the casserole dish until it comes up at least halfway on the custard cups. The towel and the water bath are very important to keep the custard from burning while cooking.