Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Move oven rack to the center.

Pour milk and cream into a small heavy saucepan and heat to scald over medium-high heat. To scald, heat until bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan. Remove pan from heat.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, 1/3 cup sugar, salt and vanilla paste. While whisking, slowly pour hot milk mixture into the egg mixture. Do not stop whisking. Whisk until the mixture is smooth. (If you do this too quickly, the eggs will cook upon contact with the hot cream mixture.) Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup with a spout to remove any overcooked egg pieces. (There will be a few tiny bits.) This will also help accelerate the cooling down process.

Place 6 (4 ounce) ramekins inside a rectangular baking dish and fill the ramekins with the custard mixture.

Using hot tap water, pour enough water into the baking dish to reach half-way up the side of the ramekins. This hot water bath will insulate the custard and keep the eggs from cooking too fast.

Bake about 40 minutes until the custard trembles or wobbles when gently shaken. If the mixture doesn't appear to be set, continue baking a few minutes more while monitoring.

Remove ramekins from the water bath, place on a cooling rack for 30 minutes, then transfer to the refrigerator to set.

Before serving: Sprinkle the surface of each custard with 2 teaspoons of the remaining sugar. Shake the cup to gently distribute the sugar evenly—make sure it covers the custard completely. Any exposed custard will blacken under the torch's flame. Light the torch, move the flame over the sugar in a circular motion until most of the sugar has melted and looks like tiny water droplets. Continue heating until the sugar turns a deep golden brown. The molten caramel will bubble and smoke then solidify into a crisp surface as it cools. Refrigerate 10 minutes before serving.