Japanese Purin

Caramel Sauce:

1. Combine sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Gently shake the saucepan to evenly distribute sugar and do not touch until the mixture starts to turn golden brown. Gently swirl and tilt the pan again to distribute the mixture to an even color until it becomes an amber color (like darker honey color), about 6 minutes.

2. Immediately remove from heat and add 2 tbsp boiling water. It will create a huge splash so please be careful. Stir the saucepan to mix together. This will slightly thin out the caramel sauce and ensure that it doesn’t become too thick in the ramekins.

3. Briefly dip the ramekins in hot water to warm up. This will prevent the caramel from solidifying (just shake off excess water and no need to dry).

4. While caramel is still hot, evenly distribute the caramel among the 4 ramekins. Set aside and let the caramel thicken naturally (which is why the caramel will not mix with the custard mixture later).

Custard:

5. In a small bowl, combine gelatin powder and water and let stand for 1 minute.

6. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale and creamy.

7. In a medium saucepan, heat half of the milk over medium heat until the milk is warm to the touch.

8. Slowly add the warm milk, whisking constantly (tempering the egg mixture).

9. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture coats a spoon with a thin film or small bubbles start to form at the edges of the pan, or reaches 160ºF.

10. Add in the gelatin mixture and mix well. Remove from the heat.

11. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean bowl.

12. Add the rest of the milk, heavy cream, vanilla and whisk all together. We’re adding them at the end to help the mixture cool down.

13. Divide the custard into the ramekins. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge overnight or up to 3 days. The caramel on the bottom will become thinner after the moisture from the custard transfers to the caramel.