Easy to make and sometimes overlooked in the world of modern foams and more elaborated desserts, Crème Caramel or Flan is still a favorite of mine. Its magic combination of sweet, rich custard and bitter caramel is one of those marriages meant to last.

And without the caramelized sugar, the custard is a great base for turning leftovers such as bread or baked goods like Panettone or Croissants into wonderful moist puddings.

As usual there are many different recipes, but here’s one I personally like:

The trickiest part is making the caramel, because in order to soften it a bit and prevent it from becoming solid after it cools off, I like to add a small amount of water to it while it is still extremely hot, and this makes the hot caramel react and splash around dangerously.

But if you survive that part the rest is pretty easy.

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It doesn’t need an introduction, I know. But like all food preparations it can be prepared in many different ways with surprisingly different results, so I decided to share with you how I make it.

Beware though, I am not going for the easy way.

I prepare Tiramisu by cooking the yolks with sugar and Marsala like a Sabayon over a warm water bath and this can be labor intense and tricky to execute correctly. It requires constant care to ensure the Sabayon will mount, become rich, fluffy and thick without scrambling the eggs. Such hard work, however, produces a superior flavor and texture, in my opinion, and is also safer to eat than the uncooked egg versions.

So if you are up for some arm workout here is my recipe:

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