Easy Catalan cream
This is another of my ventures into traditional desserts from Spanish cuisine—in a simple way. Genetically, it’s quite similar to the French crème brûlée, although there are two notable differences between these sister desserts: the cooking method (crème brûlée is prepared in a bain-marie, while crema catalana is usually made in a saucepan) and whether or not milk is added (crema catalana uses milk and cream, whereas crème brûlée uses only cream).
Then there’s the matter of the burnt sugar layer, for which there are several techniques. Judging by the photos and my somewhat patchy and uneven sugar crust, you can probably guess that neither a torch nor a salamander was used; this was my first attempt at caramelizing sugar using the grill, a distant approximation of what should be a crisp burnt sugar layer.
I’ll keep improving the technique in future attempts, and if something visually appealing comes out of it, there will be a new photo to show the contrast :).
Ingredients for 4 people
750 ml fresh whole milk
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon cornstarch (refined corn flour)
1 cinnamon stick
lemon peel
80 g white sugar (or a bit more if you like it very sweet)
Preparation
Beat the egg yolks and add the sugar and cornstarch.
Heat the milk in a saucepan with the cinnamon and lemon peel until it boils.
Remove it from the heat and add the egg yolk mixture, stirring to combine.
Return the mixture to the heat and stir until it thickens (without letting it boil).
Divide the mixture into individual clay dishes and let them cool.
Sprinkle a layer of sugar over each one and caramelize it with a kitchen torch.