I am that type of person that goes to bed and start to think. A lot! Somedays I start to think about food and flavors and new combinations and my mind goes crazy. Sometimes I just sleep and kind of forget it - because I am not the type that will open my eyes, take the cell and make a note because this will make me lose my sleep for sure. But somedays I am look enough to go to bed with an idea on my mind and then I wake up and the idea is there I will only rest when I go to the kitchen and start to test.

This happened this week when I was thinking about creme caramel, one of my favorite desserts ever. Creme caramel is very popular in Brazil, I grew up having it on special occasions with family. But it's the kind of dessert that people love and it's not so simple to do. Specially because sometimes it gets some holes in it and some people love this way but I prefer de creamier one - no holes, just a velvety cream.

A few months ago I was giving this amazing yellow cardamom by Burlap & Barrel and felt in love by it. It was the first time that I had cardamom in my life. Don't get me wrong but cardamom is so expensive in my country that I never had the chance to try it before. Since then I've been trying to use it as many times as possible with different combinations. And the latest one is the subject of this post.

Sweet and glorious with a fragrant taste.

It's so hard to do a dessert like this when the sun is already down and you have to wait until the other day just to take nice pictures. Nevertheless so worthy. Do you want the recipe? Here it is:

CARDAMOM CREME CARAMEL

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CARAMEL

2 cups sugar
¾ cup water

INSTRUCTIONS

In a pan add the sugar and the water and give it a little stir to dissolve. Turn on the medium low heat and once the mixture comes to a boil, stop stirring and wait until it turns to caramel. Transfer to a 9 inches pan.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE CREME

4 eggs
1 can of sweet condensed milk
2 cups heavy cream
10 pods of yellow cardamom

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven at 350 F. Put some water to boil. Take the seeds out of the cardamom pods and add in a blender with all the other ingredients. Blend for about 2 minutes. Using a sieve transfer the liquid to the pan with the caramel. Use foil to cover it. Get a bigger pan and place the pan with the liquid on the center of it. Put in the oven and pour the hot water. Let it cook for 90 minutes. Take the pan out of the oven and let it cool on the counter. Put in the fridge after it has cooled down. Leave it on the fridge for at least 3 hours.

To take the creme caramel out of the pan: use a knife to let it out from the edges from the pan. Put the pan on the stove top for about 20 seconds. Place a beautiful plate on top of the pan and turn. It's ready!

I would truly recommend this dessert for Christmas feast! Also I would decorate it with orange confit or toasted pistachios. Superb!