Salted caramel custard

Separate nine large egg yolks, letting the whites drip through the fingers into a bowl; save the whites.

Dry caramel: white granulated sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium (medium high is faster) without water and without stirring; once it melts and darkens at the edges, swirl the pan until fully melted to a clear dark amber.

Carefully whisk in two cups of cream; it bubbles and the caramel seizes, but keep stirring as it heats and it dissolves back into the cream.

Turn off the heat and whisk in half a teaspoon of kosher salt, the vanilla extract and one cup of cold milk.

Whisk into the yolks a ladle at a time for the first couple of ladles, then add the rest. Straining is optional.

Divide among six unbuttered ramekins set in a baking dish and pour in hot tap water halfway up the ramekins.

Bake in the centre of a 300 degree oven about 45 to 60 minutes until just set: the whole custard jiggles as one mass. Loose centres need a couple more minutes.

Cool completely on a rack to room temperature, wrap in plastic and chill at least an hour until ice cold.

Serve sprinkled with large flaky sea salt.