Serves 8-10

350 g sugar
1 litre milk full cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 eggs
24 cm bundt or smaller ramekins or pots

preheat oven to 160'.
Make the caramel. Put 200 g of the sugar & a few drops of water in a heavy-based pot over high heat. As soon as the sides start to colour, lower the heat & swirl the pan around to distribute the heat, without mixing. Watch closely – it can burn in a second.
When deep gold, (it does need to be for that beautiful characteristic caramel flavour) remove from the heat & immediately pour into your bundt ring pan – or into smaller vessels. Holding the tin with a cloth, work quickly to swirl the caramel around to cover the bottom & as much of sides as possible. Set tin aside.
Heat milk in a pot till just before boiling, then remove from the heat. Whisk eggs, rest of sugar & vanilla in a wide bowl. Whisk in a ladleful of the hot milk to acclimatise the eggs, slowly adding all the milk to the eggs. Try not to get too much froth. Strain the custard into a large jug & pour over the caramel.
Put the tin into a deep baking dish & carefully pour enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the tin. Bake for 50-60 minutes in the centre of the oven until the top is golden in parts, quite set but still a bit wobbly. Remove from the oven & from the water bath. Cool, then cover & put into the fridge for at least a few hours or overnight before serving.