The Progress’ Corn Custard With Tomato Caramel

Serves 4

This summertime riff on a classic creme caramel from the Progress’ Nicole Krasinski pairs a sweettart caramel sauce made with Sun Gold tomatoes with a creamy corn custard. Krasinski has been making this caramel for years and it makes a fantastic, yet unexpected, sauce for everything from cheese boards to ice cream or pound cake. Both the caramel and custard can be made ahead.

Tomato caramel

2⁄3 cup granulated sugar 1 pint Sun Gold tomatoes 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Corn custard

2 ears fresh corn, shucked 1 cup whole milk 1 cup heavy cream 6 large egg yolks ½ cup granulated sugar ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

To finish

2 red or purple plums, such as Elephant Heart, sliced ¼ cup white chocolate, shaved into slivers

To make the caramel: Place the sugar in a small pot, add 3 tablespoons water and gently combine until all the sugar is moistened. Check to make sure there is no sugar sticking to the sides; if there is, wash down with water. Cover with a lid, place over medium heat and bring to a simmer, checking every couple of minutes, until it’s a light amber color, about 12 minutes.

Remove from the heat and immediately add the tomato. Return to medium heat and cook until all the sugar is dissolved and the sauce is a thin syrupy consistency. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine-mesh sieve.

Add the vanilla. Return to low heat and cook until it reaches a thicker syrup-like consistency, about 8 minutes. Pour into a container to cool. Once the caramel reaches room temperature, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use. The caramel will keep for 5 days.

To make the corn custard: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Set four medium-size ramekins (the ramekins should be large enough to hold roughly ½ cup custard, plus a few tablespoons of caramel) into a high-sided baking pan.

Either over a grill or gas burner, blacken all the sides of the corn. Cut the kernels off the cob and set both the kernels and the cobs into a medium pot. (If necessary, cut the cobs in half so they fit into your pot.) Add the milk and cream and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat, cover and allow to steep for 30 minutes.

Remove the cobs and then, using a handheld blender, blend the corn into the liquid, about 30 seconds (the mixture will not be completely smooth). Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl. Whisk in the egg yolks and sugar; strain again, then add the salt.

Pour ½ cup custard into each ramekin. Cover with plastic wrap, then cover with foil. Fill the high-sided baking pan with enough hot water to come about a third of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until the custards are set but still jiggly in the center, about 45 minutes, rotating and checking every 15 minutes.

Immediately remove from the water bath and place on a wire cooling rack. Cool to room temperature and place in the refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

To finish: Serve the custards directly from the refrigerator. Top each custard with a few tablespoons of caramel, plum slices and white chocolate slivers.