Easy & Elegant: Creme Caramel from Your Pressure Cooker!

DIRECTIONS

• Infuse the milk with the Vanilla or Vanillin by heating it to almost boiling and then turning it off. While the milk is cooling --
• Make the carmel and coat the forms in Caramel. In your widest sautee pan, add the sugar and turn the flame to high and wait. DO NOT STIR - at most, pick up the pan and swish it around to make sure the sugar is evenly melted in the carmel. As soon as almost all of the sugar has turned to carmel turn off the heat.
• Hold the form with your oven-mitt-covered hand, or some other protection that will not limit your dexterity yet protect your hand form the hot scalding sugar. With the other hand, pour a little carmel in the bottom and then twirl it around covering the form internally and on the sides as much as you can. I highly recommend you read David Lebovitz's How to Make the Perfect Carmel primer before caramelizing sugar for the first time. Once all of your forms have been coated with caramel on the inside, move to making the creme.
• Using a fork or a whisk, mix 4 whole eggs plus one yolk with the sugar. Then, add the cooled, infused milk. Mix well -the resulting consistency will be very liquid.
• Fill the forms, by pouring or using a soup ladle, leaving 1/2" or 1 cm space from the top. Cover the forms with tinfoil.
• Prepare the pressure cooker by adding two cups of water and the trivet or collapsible steamer basket.
• Place as many forms as possible that will stay straight - for me it's three of the big teacups or 4 of the medium glass forms, and 5 espresso cups -but they are really small so I make these for the kids!
• Close and lock the pressure cooker top, turn the flame to high and when it begins to whistle, turn the flame down to minimum. Count 10 minutes. When time is up, release all of the vapor and do not open the top.
• Let the forms sit in the locked pan with no heat for another 5 minutes. When time is up, open the top and check for doneness by sticking a toothpick in the middle of one of the cremes. If it comes out dirty, simply place the pressure cooker cover back on without turning on the flame again, and wait another 5 minutes.
• Let your creme caramels cool outside the pan for about an hour before refrigerating.
• Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving. If you need to do another batch, remember to add more water in your pressure cooker!
• To serve, simply turn the form upside-down onto each dessert dish. If the Creme Caramel does not come down on it's own, insert a flat knife and run it carefully along the sides. Then, on one side pull the knife a little towards the center to break the suction. Place the dessert plate on top of the form and flip it around quickly.