Caramel Pudding

A baked caramel custard written in Mrs. Wilson's usual shorthand, with the oven temperature, the liquid quantity and the finishing point all left to the cook. Two of those need attention before you start.

• The milk is almost certainly shortThe milk may well be short -- Three eggs with half a cup of milk gives a stiff, eggy set closer to a baked scramble than a custard, and it makes very little volume to divide among six cups. Baked custards generally take considerably more milk per egg than this, so a larger quantity may be intended. The original as printed is ambiguous; the half cup may be a misprint rather than a technique.
• Caramel first, and quicklyThe six tablespoons of sugar go into a dry heavy pan over medium heat until they melt and turn the colour of dark honey, then straight into the cups, tilting to coat the bottoms. It sets hard in seconds and dissolves again into sauce during baking. Sugar goes from amber to burnt in under thirty seconds, so pull it early.
• The iron saucepanIron is heavy and holds heat steadily, which suits sugar work, though the book does not say why it was called for. Any thick-bottomed stainless or enamelled pan does the same job, and light colours let you judge the caramel by eye. Avoid a bare cast-iron skillet that has been used for savoury cooking.
• Oven temperatureCooking heat -- Not given, and the recipe does not in fact specify an oven; "set in pan of hot water" could mean either a slow oven or the top of the stove. If you bake it, a moderate to slow oven of about 325F suits custards; hotter and the egg curdles and weeps. The water should come halfway up the cups and be hot, not boiling, when it goes in.
• Twenty minutes is a starting pointSmall cups of about 4 ounces may take 25 to 30 minutes in a moderate oven; larger ones take longer. Judge by the centre, which should wobble as one piece rather than ripple, or by an instant-read thermometer at 170 to 175F. Carryover heat finishes it.
• Cups"Six cups" means six individual custard cups or ramekins, not a measure. Ovenproof pottery or glass of 4 to 6 ounces is right.
• UnmouldingChill at least four hours, ideally overnight, so the hardened caramel liquefies into sauce. Run a thin knife round the edge, invert onto a plate with a rim, and let the syrup run out.
• YieldSix small individual puddings, served cold. The three tablespoons of sugar beaten with the eggs are the only sweetening in the custard itself; the caramel supplies the rest.