• Preheat oven to 325° F.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla. Set aside.
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm up the heavy cream. Remove from heat just before it starts to boil.
• While whisking the egg yolk mixture, slowly add about 1/4 cup of heavy cream to the mixture (see note on tempering eggs). Once the cream is incorporated, keep adding the remaining cream bit by bit while constantly whisking, until everything is combined.
• Place the ramekins into a large baking pan. If the ramekins don't fit into the same baking pan, you can use multiple small baking pans instead. Evenly distribute the custard mixture into the five ramekins. Slowly add about 1/2 of hot water to the pan so that it comes about half way up the sides of the ramekins.
• Using oven mitts, carefully transfer the pan into the oven, placing it on the middle oven rack. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until the edges are set and the centre is still jiggly but no longer liquid (start monitoring them at the 25 minute mark).
• Once the custards are done cooking, remove from the water bath and set them on a cooling rack to cool down. Once they are cooled to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge to set for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight.

Caramelizing the Tops

• Once the custards are set, remove them from the fridge and pat the tops dry with some paper towel.
• Set the oven to the broil setting and arrange an oven rack in the highest position.
• Using the remaining sugar, evenly coat each custard with a layer of granulated sugar. Don't make this layer too thick but also make sure all of the custard is completely covered (exposed custard will separate under the broiler).
• Place the sugar coated custards onto a baking sheet and place them under the broiler, on the highest positioned oven rack. Broil for about 5-8 minutes or until the sugar completely melts together. Immediately remove from the oven.
• Cool the custards until the melted sugar hardens and the custards cool. The sugar will harden after about five minutes, but the custards will take longer to return to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
• Serve immediately and enjoy!