Pots de Creme (Salted Caramel)

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Get a kettle of water warming on the stove. In a large saucepan, combine heavy cream, milk, vanilla, and salt. Warm over medium heat until the mixture is bubbling. Then remove from heat and cover with a lid to keep warm.

In another saucepan, heat sugar and water over low heat stirring just until the sugar dissolves. Allow the mixture to continue simmering for about 10 minutes, until liquid starts to brown. Swirl the sugar mixture in the pan occasionally by lifting the pan and swirling the pan, but do not stir the sugar mixture with a spoon or anything. After the 10 minutes are up, use a spoon or brush to remove some of the sugar crystals that have formed on the side of the saucepan.

Pour the sugar mixture into the cream mixture. Add the chocolate chips and use a whisk to give everything a stir until the chocolate has melted. Pour the entire contents through a sieve into a bowl just to ensure you don't have any sugar crystals in the mixture.

In a large measuring cup, whisk your egg yolks together. Slowly stream a couple tablespoons worth of the caramel mixture into the yolks, whisking as you do this, to temper your eggs. Then continue to whisk as you pour the rest of the caramel mixture in. You'll end up with a little more than 2 cups of batter.

Distribute this evenly among 6 ramekins. Place the ramekins in a large casserole-type pan. Pour the heated water from the kettle into the pan just until the water reaches halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake in the oven for about 45 minutes, just until the edges of the creme have set, but the centers are still wobbly.

Remove the ramekins from the pan and allow them to come to room temperature. Then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled (about 2 - 3 hours). Sprinkle fleur de sel when ready to serve with a side of whipped cream (optional).