Lemon Verbena Baked Custards

From the garden

• 1 cup fresh tea herbs (lemon verbena, lemon balm, mint, or chamomile flowers), leaves loosely packed, rinsed and bruised

From the pantry

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 5 eggs, yolks only
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tbsp honey (optional) · for drizzling at the table

1. Warm the cream and milk in a saucepan until steaming with small bubbles at the edge, not boiling. Take it off the heat, stir in the bruised herb leaves, cover, and steep 30 minutes. Taste: it should be plainly herbal. Lemon verbena gives up its flavor fast; mint and lemon balm can take the full time; chamomile flowers taste like honey and hay after 20 minutes.
2. Heat the oven to 325°F and set six 6-ounce ramekins in a deep baking dish. Put a kettle of water on to boil for the water bath.
3. Whisk the yolks, sugar, and salt in a bowl until pale. Strain the warm herb cream through a fine sieve, pressing the leaves well, and discard them. Pour the cream into the yolks in a thin stream, whisking constantly so the eggs do not scramble.
4. Strain the custard once more into a pitcher (this catches any cooked egg), skim off the foam, and divide among the ramekins. Pour boiling water into the baking dish to halfway up the ramekins.
5. Bake 30–40 minutes until the edges are set and the centers wobble like gelatin when nudged; they finish setting as they cool. Lift the ramekins out of the water, cool 30 minutes, then chill at least 3 hours.
6. Serve cold with a thread of honey and a small fresh leaf on top. A stevia leaf in the steep adds sweetness without flavor, so if you use one, cut the sugar by a tablespoon.