Caramel Custard

My favorite movie of all times is perhaps 'You've Got Mail'. I love books, I love love stories, I love Tom Hanks, I love internet and there it is. My favorite movie. I watch it when ever I feel like watching a movie but cannot decide on one. Fair enough! right. Well what has a caramel custard to do with an old movie... This time it is a spiced rum called Brinley, which reminds me of Tom Hanks pet dog in the movie - Brinkley. I love the way Tom Hanks describes his dogs eating bagel bits off the street sidewalks!

Caramel custard is one of the dishes I learned to make back when my father was posted in Punjab. This is one of the many dished our erstwhile landlady taught me. She was a petite women, in her sixties, the widow of an army Brigadier. She lived alone and hardly cooked much for herself. But then she offer to teach me the nuances of Punjabi cooking. I fell in love with Punjabi cuisine right then and there. Caramel custard is certainly not Punjabi but very very European. It did assume some Indian characters like cardamon, and of course cooking in a pressure cooker. But these days I like to bake it. The baked version is a lot more creamy than the pressure cooked version. It has been a long time that I cooked one in the pressure cooker.  Will give it a shot sometime.

This is definitely not the best photograph. This version had to endure a very warm journey 50 mile journey. Will do one for a picture sometime later.

We will need,
(Serves 4)
For the caramel custard:

Heavy cream 2 cups
Eggs 4
Vanilla 1 tbsp
Lemon zest 1tsp
Sugar 1/3 cup (upto 1/2 cup if preferred sweet)

For the Sauce
Sugar 3/4 cup
Brinley spiced rum 2-3 tbsp (or more if preferred)
Lemon juice 1 tbsp

Method:

• Pre heat oven to 350.
• Heat about a third of the sugar mentioned for the sauce with about 1/4 cup of water. Cook till the sugar is golden and caramelized. 
• Pour the prepared caramel onto the bottom of a souffle dish. Spread the caramel evenly to coat the bottom completely. Set it aside.
• In a heavy bottom pot, heat the cream and the sugar. Once the cream is very hot, turn the heat off. 
• Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them lightly. Temper the eggs with a spoonful of the hot cream. Stir well. Temper the eggs again with another spoonful of hot cream and stir well. Repeat till all the cream is used up. Pour this mixture through a sieve.
• Stir in the vanilla and the lemon zest. 
• Pour the cream mixture into the caramelled souffle dish. Place the souffle dish in a tray and pop it into the oven. Pour hot water into the tray. Bake till the caramel is set. It tool me about 40 minutes.  
• Remove and cool on the counter and refrigerate for a few hours before serving with the spiced rum sauce.
• To make the sauce, place the remaning sugar and about 1/2 cup of water in the same pot used to prepare the caramel and cook. Reduce the syrup to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat. Stir in the flavorings and bring it to room temperature.
• Serve the sauce on top of the chilled custard.