To make a bain-marie/water bath, fill a saucepan with about 2-3 inch/5-7 cm of water and bring it to a boil. Place the needed ingredients into a smaller saucepan or a bowl and put it on top of the first saucepan (make sure that there is some space between the water and the smaller container). Heat the mixture: once you need to remove the container from a bain-marie, be careful of hot steam!