5 eggs
1 1/8 cup condensed milk
4 cup milk
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 tsp cardamom
OR
1 tsp vanilla, or more to taste
1 18 1/4-ounce cake mix (optional)
Recipe
Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Caramelize the sugar by putting it in a heavy saucepan over high heat without stirring until it starts to melt and caramelize. Pour into an angel food cake pan (or for strict creme caramel version - a bain-marie pan) making sure you cover the edges too.
Beat the eggs well; add the vanilla. Add the condensed milk and beat well.
Gradually beat in the milk. Pour mixture on top of the caramelized sugar.
At this point you can bake this dish in a bain-marie for 1 to 1 1/4 hours.
To prepare the cake variation, simply add the cake mix after preparing the batter as directed on the package.
Spoon the batter on top of the milk mixture. Notice that the batter will float on top. Cover the pan with foil.
Bake for 1 hour and remove the foil. Continue to bake until the cake is done and lightly browned.