Cream, yolks, sugar, vanilla, set in a water bath and torched to order. The ratio is 5 : 1 : 0.8 by weight — no starch, no whole eggs.

Ingredients

   
500g heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (or 5g vanilla bean paste)
  pinch of salt
100g egg yolk (5–6 large)
80g granulated sugar
8g each granulated sugar, for the crust

Steps

  1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Boil a kettle of water and keep it hot.

  2. Heat the cream, vanilla bean (seeds and pod), and salt until steaming, ~170°F — do not boil. Off the heat, cover and steep 15 minutes, then lift out the pod. (With paste or extract, stir it in off the heat.)

  3. Whisk the yolks and 80g sugar until smooth. Combine, don’t aerate — bubbles bake into the surface and spoil the flat plane the crust needs.

  4. Pour the hot cream into the yolks in a slow stream, whisking. Strain through a fine sieve and skim off any foam.

  5. Divide into 6 shallow ramekins (~113g each) set in a baking dish. Pour hot water halfway up their sides. Bake at 325°F for 30–40 minutes, to 170°F at the center — the edges set, the middle jiggling as one piece.

  6. Cool on a rack about 1 hour, then cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours.

  7. Blot the surface dry. Sprinkle 8g sugar over each, tilting to spread it thin and tipping out the excess. Torch from the edge inward, flame moving, until deep amber.

  8. Rest 2–3 minutes for the crust to set. Serve within 30 minutes.

Analysis

Total custard base: 680g (sugar crust excluded — a finishing layer)

Component Amount %
Structure solids — —
Fat (cream, yolk) 208g 30.6%
Sugar (added + lactose) 95g 14.0%
Liquid (cream, yolk water, milk solids) 350g 51.5%
Egg/protein 27g 4.0%

Same set mechanism as Purin, inverted fat balance: 30.6% fat against purin’s 7.1%, 51.5% liquid against its 77.2%. Both are pure egg-set custards with no starch and ~4% protein doing all the work. Fat doesn’t join the protein gel — it coats the proteins and fills the gaps — so identical protein gives a silkier, spoonable set rather than a sliceable one.

Notes

  • Yolks only. Yolk brings fat and lecithin; white brings water and a rubbery set. Whole eggs make a flan.
  • Shallow ramekins, ~1 inch deep. Deep 6oz ones take 45–60 minutes and eat mostly custard.
  • Don’t overbake. Past 170°F the protein over-coagulates — grainy, and it weeps. Residual heat finishes the set.
  • The crust: blot the surface first, or fridge condensation turns the sugar to syrup that browns unevenly and never cracks. Plain granulated white — superfine scorches, powdered won’t caramelize. Torch rather than broiler, which warms the custard underneath.
  • Bake ahead, torch to order. The crust softens within the hour; the custards keep 2 days refrigerated, uncaramelized.
  • The scald is for the bean, not the custard — no milk solids here need dissolving. With paste or extract, whisk it all cold and add 5–10 minutes to the bake. For other flavors, steep tea, coffee, or citrus zest in the hot cream in place of the vanilla.
  • Related: Purin (milk-based), Flan Pâtissier (starch-set, sliceable), and Cream in Custards.