Creme Caramel/ Caramel Custard

This is a recipe a friend passed on and it sounded so easy i had to try it. What i didn't realize was it was so similar to the caramel custard which i really like, but never tried. Its so much more convenient to pick it up from the supermarket, where they come in theses small tubs and is very cheap. Also, Ro is not a big fan of the flan and thank god I halved the measurements and made them in small dessert bowls. I had to eat them all on my own..and I'm not complaining though :)

Sugar-1/4 cup

Water- 2 tbs

Lemon juice- a few drops

Eggs- 2

Milk- 3/4 cup

Condensed milk- 1/2 cup

Vanilla essence- 1tsp

Preheat the oven to 175C.

Lightly coat the ramekins with butter. Keep aside.

In a heavy skillet over medium heat, cook and stir the sugar, water and lemon juice until you get a light brown caramel colour. Pour into the buttered dishes and swirl a bit, so that the caramel coats the entire bottom well enough.

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, milk, condensed milk and vanilla essence till you get a smooth mixture. Pour this into the ramekins. Prepare a hot water bath for the ramekins. That is, set the cups in a large shallow pan and fill with water, so that it reaches about half way up the ramekins.

Bake for 30 minutes or until knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. If its doesn't, keep for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven, cool it and chill for about an hour. When you are ready to serve, invert the flans into individual serving dishes, dust some icing sugar, or serve as is.

Notes: I got only 3 ramekins full for the amounts used. You can double the quantities and use a bigger dish if you please.

I added lemon juice to the caramel and milk to compliment the flan a bit more.