Preheat your oven to 140°C.

Gently heat the cream to scalding point. Do not allow it to boil! Remove from the heat.

In a separate heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks until pale and creamy. Add the Vanilla Extract, followed by the sugar and whisk until well combined. Do not overwork as you do not want too many bubbles in your mixture.

Slowly pour the hot cream into the egg mixture, stirring or whisking constantly. Pour this back into the saucepan and stir over gentle heat until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Arrange 10 ramekins in a deep baking dish and divide the custard mixture evenly between them. Place on your oven rack and carefully pou in enough hot water to cover two-thirds up the ramekins. Bake for 30 minutes or until the custards are very lightly set on top.

Remove from the oven, take the ramekins out the baking dish and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

When you are ready to serve, sprinkle a thin layer of castor or demerara sugar on top of the custards and caramelise the sugar using a blowtorch.
Serve immediately.

Tip: If you do not have a blowtorch, place the ramekins in a baking dish filled with water and ice cubes. Place under an extremely hot grill to caramelise the top. This must be done very quickly otherwise the custard will start to melt. It seems like hard work, but it is definitely worth
the effort!