This is a very forgiving recipe---if you like it, you'll soon be eyeballing all the ingredient measurements. I added a chocolate option at the end, although I confess I've never made it. I got addicted to crème caramel as a little girl: we lived in Egypt for a while, at a time when reliably fresh milk was hard to come by (we'd occasionally have water buffalo milk as a special treat). We hated powdered milk, so my mom used to make this all the time to make sure we got enough calcium. The basic proportions for the custard are from the Mystery Chef, who calls for baking it in the oven in a bain-marie, which is how I, following my mom, did it for years. It takes forever, especially if you use nonfat milk. Then, at some point after I acquired my first pressure cooker (read: convinced Mom to part with her backup one, made in France in the 70's), I learned (from Mom, who'd never tried it herself) that you could make crème caramel in it. Sure enough, the little recipe pamphlet (simply titled "Les Bonnes Recettes"---if I ever publish a cookbook I'm definitely calling it "Good Recipes") that came with the cooker had some guidelines, and I had a life-changing experience. It's so easy! So quick! The texture is so creamy and luscious, even if you're using skim milk! Why would anyone do it any other way???

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