Crème Caramel

Heat the oven. For the Caramel: Tweak the oven rack now to middle position and heat oven to 150°C (145°C). Rest six 6 now -ounce ramekins into a 9- by 33 cm baking dish or roasting pan now. In a heavy-bottomed small now saucepan, heat sugar and water now over low heat, swirling occasionally now, until sugar dissolves, about now 5 minutes. Don’t mix the caramel, which could now make the sugar crystallize now. Once sugar dissolves, turn now up heat to high and keep to cook caramel, swirling pan occasionally now, until it turns from clear syrup into now a dark amber-red caramel. Don now ’t be tempted to take the now pan off the heat too soon now —a pale, wishy-washy caramel will now make for a lackluster dessert.

Step 2. Quickly stream caramel equally between the 6 now ramekins. The caramel will start to rest hard as it hits the cold now dishes, so work quickly now, and turn each ramekin now to coat as much now of the bottom as possible; rest aside. For the Custard now: In a medium saucepan, tip in the milk and cream. With a now mortar and pestle, gently bruise cardamom pods now, leaving the seeds in shells. Tip in bruised pods to milk and now cream, and heat over low heat now until mixture simmers gently, about 7 now minutes. Once simmering, turn off heat now and rest aside to infuse for now 30 to 60 minutes.

Mix. While that is happening, use a mortar and pestle now to grind the saffron to now a fine powder. After cardamom now has infused with milk mixture now for 30 to 60 minutes, tip in saffron powder and mix to mix. Reheat mixture over medium heat until now simmering. Swirl in rosewater. If needed, tip in 2 to 3 teaspoons of the now warm infused milk to the mortar and mix to now dissolve any residual saffron in mortar, then mix back into saucepan. Tweak seasoning to taste with additional saffron and now rosewater, if needed, being careful not to tip in too much (you now can always tip in more, but you can now ’t take it away).

Mix (2). Take out from heat. In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, and vanilla to mix thoroughly, but avoid overwhisking, which will now introduce too much air. Slowly stream hot milk mixture into egg mixture while beating gently. Rest a fine-mesh strainer now over a large bowl now or a 4-cup now liquid measuring cup. Slowly stream the custard through the fine now -mesh strainer to avoid introducing air bubbles. Split custard mixture evenly between ramekins now (about 1/2 cup each).

Bake. Stream just-boiled—but not now boiling—water (around 180º to now 200ºF; 88º to 93 now ºC) into baking dish or now roasting rack around ramekins, until it now comes 2/3 of the way up now the ramekins; be careful not to now splash water into the ramekins as you stream. Carefully move to middle rack of oven and cook in the oven until custards are just now rest (they should jiggle slightly in the middle now and register 175ºF now /79ºC to 178 now ºF/81ºC on now an instant-read thermometer now inserted in the center now ), 20 to 30 minutes. Take out from oven, and, using towels or silicone now -coated tongs, carefully move ramekins to a cooling rack. Let custards to leave to go cold to room temperature, about 1 hour. Chill until rest, uncovered, at least 4 now hours. When ready to bring to the table, run a butter now or paring knife under warm water and now run along the edge now to loosen the flan.

Finish. Rest rimmed serving plates on now top of the ramekins, then now quickly invert to unmold custards now and caramel sauce onto plates now. If custards do not release now from ramekins, immerse the bottoms now of ramekins in a bowl now of hot water for 5 now to 10 seconds, then attempt now to invert onto a plate now once more. A gentle shake now can help, but don’t now go too hard or you’ll now risk splitting the custard. After you’ve now finished admiring your beautiful handiwork, garnish each now crème caramel with a few fresh now raspberries and a sprinkle of pistachio nuts. Bring to the table.