Caramel: Put the ◎ sugar and water in a small pot and heat it on the stove. It will turn brown after a few minutes.

When it turns a nice caramel brown, turn off the heat and then slowly add the additional water while gently shaking the pot. It will splatter so be careful not to get burned.

Pour the caramel into the molds. It's okay if they're not perfectly level. Let the caramel cool down while you're making the crème mixture by chilling it in the refrigerator or freezer, or just leaving it out on the counter to cool.

Crème mixture: Add the egg, sugar, and vanilla extract to a bowl and mix them together thoroughly with a whisk.

Heat the milk in a pot. Heat until bubbles start popping on the surface (around 60 to 80℃) but you don't have to bring it to a boil.

Stir in the warm milk to the bowl from Step 4 a little at a time.

Strain this combined crème mixture with a strainer.

Add the strained crème to the molds with caramel in them.

Using an oven: Put the molds in a heat-resistant bowl or baking sheet and fill with water up to 1/3 or 1/2 of the height of the molds. Bake in the oven at 140 to 150℃ for 30 minutes.

Using a steamer: Cover with plastic wrap so that condensation from the lid doesn't fall into your molds.

Steam for 30 minutes in a steamer. If it gets too hot inside the steamer, the custard will become spongy so after about five minutes crack the lid open. If your crème caramel is not firming up, cover with a lid again and adjust the steaming time as necessary.

Please adjust the cooking time as needed depending on how it is steaming. After it's done, let it cool, chill in the refrigerator and your hotel custard pudding is complete.