Bring the milk, cream, sugar and vanilla to the boil and remove from the heat. Allow to cool till less than 50deg.

In a small non stick sauce pot melt the sugar, butter and water and bring to boil and simmer till golden. Swirling to remove mixture from the edges. Be careful as it burns really easily as it changes colour.
Pour the caramel into the ramikins to coat the bottom and set aside.

Whisk the eggs on speed 3 for 3 minutes. Let settle and then slowly mix in the milk.
Sieve custard mixture into a jug. Stand and remove the top froth.

Set ramikins into a baking dish and fill to 5mm below the top with custard mixture. Fill the baking dish halfway up the sides of the ramikins with hot water. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes in a 160deg oven. I do these two steps on the oven door. Much easier than carrying a tray filled with boiling water.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 45 minutes. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

Let stand on the bench 20 minutes or warm the cold ramikins in a little hot water for a few minutes or so. Run a knife round the edge. Turn out onto plate and serve with whipped cream.

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Most recipes I see use more eggs and or egg yolks. I have mucked around with the ratio of eggs, milk, cream and sugar, plus adding more vanilla than you might think, to come up with this great recipe. This does work with just three eggs and the result is the exact right silky smooth texture. Times and temperatures are important. The more eggs the easier it is to get the custard to set but the tougher the texture. Some people like a tough custard. I do not.

The sugar for the caramel can be castor sugar, brown sugar or dark brown sugar. All render a slightly different taste. Vary the amount of sugar in the custard. 100g is under, 125g is correct and up to 150g for a really sweet treat.

Scalding the milk and cream well caramelises the natural sugars in the milk and cream. This is vital to getting the correct taste and texture.

150g  cup castor sugar
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs water

300ml cream
400ml milk
1 Tbs vanilla extract
125g castor sugar
3 eggs

4 large or 6 medium ramikins

This iconic dessert is a real favourite with everybody. And in the seventies it was the sign of a class restaurant if they did a great Cream Caramel. Now you can buy it in a dessert cup at most supermarkets. The spelling changed but the recipe remains the same. I find it to be a really good dinner party dessert as it can be made earlier in the day ( this is a requirement ) and simply let stand out of the refrigerator for 20 minutes and turn upside down onto a plate to serve. How easy is that.

I like it with a generous amount of whipped cream on the side to soften the sweetness.  One Creme Caramel is never enough dessert. So for larger dinner parties a good trick is to make a small Croqembouche (eclairs with pastry cream) and set it in the centre of the table as the dessert is served. The Croqembouche can also be made earlier and it really compliments the taste and texture of the Creme Caramel and the coffee and port that follows, allowing the sweet tooths to be totally satisfied.