Recipe - Crema Catalana
Like a creme brulee, but Catalan. So the cookbooks of history tell, crema catalana actually came first; in 1324 in the medieval Llibre de Sent Sovi, compared to the first French mention in Le Cuisinier Royal et Bourgeois in 1691. The main difference is that Catalan cremas use thickened milk flavoured with cinnamon, orange and lemon, whereas French cremes use double cream, and are usually flavoured with vanilla and cooked in the oven. Of course in this day and age there are many variations of both recipes, and you can flavour your milk as you please. Some people also like to add other fruits or nuts, or flavourings such as coffee or chocolate.
When you know how, this recipe is very easy to make, much easier than creme brulee, lighter, and in my opinion, more flavoursome.
Ingredients
Makes 4 cremas
500ml Whole milk
50g Sugar
25g Cornflour
4 Egg yolks
¼ Lemon, zest removed with a peeler
¼ Orange, zest removed with a peeler
1 small Cinnamon stick
4 dsp Caster sugar, for caramelising
Separate 50ml of the whole milk and pop it into a plastic mixing bowl. Put the rest of the milk, the sugar, cinnamon stick and citrus peels into a saucepan, take care not to use any of the white part of the citrus zest, just the yellow and the orange. Heat on a medium low heat to ensure the milk doesn’t burn, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar, and infuse the citrus and cinnamon for 10 minutes.
Separate the egg yolks and whisk them with the cornflour and the 50ml of milk to make a paste.
Remove the citrus zest and the cinnamon stick from the warmed milk. Now, turn the heat up to medium high so that it comes to the boil. Be careful as it will bubble up and over if you don’t keep an eye on it.
Pour the boiling milk into the egg yolk mixture whilst whisking. Keep whisking vigorously. The hot milk will cook both the egg, and the cornflour, and the mixture will thicken. Continue whisking for a further 30 seconds to cool the mixture and prevent it from becoming lumpy.
Ladle the mixture into your serving bowls, try to use wide bowls if possible. Glazed terracotta earthenware is traditional. Leave the cremas to cool to room temperature, then cover them and keep them in the fridge for up to 2 days.
To serve, spoon a dessert spoon of sugar on top of the crema. Shake and tap to evenly distribute the sugar over the surface. Use a branding stick, a blowtorch, or an oven grill set on high with the cremas up close, to caramelise the sugar on top of the dessert. Leave for 30 seconds for the caramel to hard set.
