Heat oven to 150°C. Place 1 cup of sugar and 1 tbsp of water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Continue to cook until the sugar becomes a dark caramel. You can swirl the pan so that the caramel colours evenly, but do not stir. Stirring can cause sugar to crystallise. Pour the caramel into the base of a 1.2L baking dish, tilting the dish so the caramel completely covers the base before it sets. Beat together the eggs and remaining sugar, then whisk in sour cream, milk and cream and vanilla in that order. Pour the custard over the set caramel.

Place the baking dish inside a larger dish and place into the oven. Pour boiling water into the larger dish until it comes half way up the sides of the custard. Bake the custard for 50 minutes until when the side of the baking tin is tapped, the custard barely wobbles in the middle. Remove from the oven, allow to cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate until chilled. Serve big scoops of the chilled custard, making sure to spoon up the liquid caramel from the bottom of the dish.

Adam's tip If you have a steam oven, you can avoid having to use a bain marie for baking the custard. Just steam it at full steam for about 45 minutes. You can even turn on the grill at the end to brown the top if you like. 

Like this recipe? Try Adam Liaw's stroganoff stew.

Find more of Adam Liaw's recipes in the Good Food Favourite Recipes cookbook.