Hojicha Purin

Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).

Prepare the caramel: Heat the 80g sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently until sugar begins to melt, breaking up clumps with rubber spatula as they form. Continue cooking until all sugar is melted evenly, stirring occasionally as sugar begins to caramelise. Keep cooking until caramel turns dark amber, then immediately remove from heat and pour directly into molds, generously coating the bottom, and using less or more depending on the size of your molds.

Prepare the custard: Heat the milk and double cream until very hot and just starting to simmer. Turn off heat, then add the tea bags. Let steep for 10 minutes, then remove tea bags, squeezing out all liquid.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and keep it on low.

Bring the hojicha milk mixture back to a simmer. In the meantime, in a large heat bowl, whisk eggs with 60g sugar until slightly thoroughly combined.

While whisking, add 1 ladleful of hot hojicha milk mixture to the egg mixture at a time, until about half of the milk mixture has been combined with the eggs. Slowly pour the egg mixture back into the pot with the remaining milk, and cook over low heat for 30 seconds, then remove from heat.

Strain the custard through a fine mesh strainer back into the empty egg bowl, then portion it evenly into molds. Pop the bubbles on the surface by quickly passing over it with a long stemmed lighter or kitchen blowtorch. Or you can use a small spoon to remove the bubbles. Place the molds in a baking dish that’s at least 2” (5 cm) deep, and fill with hot water about halfway up the sides of the molds.

Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 35 to 45 minutes (*Footnote 1), or until the centre of the custard is still jiggly but barely set. Check at the 30 minute mark.

Refrigerate the purin until completely chilled, at least 2 to 3 hours.

Gently loosen edges of custard then flip the mold onto a serving plate. Tap or jiggle to loosen.