Salted Caramel Pudding

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit (or 150 degrees Celsius).

Place six ramekins into a baking dish.

Heat sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Allow the sugar to melt slowly around its edges, taking about five minutes and adjusting the heat as needed. When the sugar starts to bubble, gently shake and swirl the pan to dissolve any remaining sugar without stirring it. Continue moving the pan until you have a clear, dark caramel, taking about ten minutes in total. Once all the sugar has dissolved, whisk in some cream; the caramel will cool and form a lump, which is perfectly normal. Keep stirring over medium heat until the caramel melts and the mixture reaches the desired temperature, with all the sugar fully dissolved. Remove from heat.

Stir in some kosher salt, a hint of vanilla, and cold milk; mix well.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together some egg yolks. Gradually add a ladleful of the caramel-milk mixture to the yolks, whisking until well combined. Add two more ladlefuls of the mixture, one at a time, and then whisk in the remaining caramel-milk mixture until everything is thoroughly blended.

Divide the custard mixture evenly among the ramekins. Carefully pour enough water into the baking dish so that it comes halfway up the sides of the filled ramekins.

Bake in a preheated oven until the custard is set and the top of the custard jiggles evenly across its surface, taking anywhere from 45 to 60 minutes (depending on the size of your ramekins and how full they are). If the center seems looser than the edges, continue to bake for another minute or so.

Transfer the ramekins to a cooling rack; cool to room temperature. Cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour until they are very cold.

Serve the custard topped with a pinch of light, flaky sea salt.