Its International Woman’s day and we should prepare something delicious!
Crema Catalana is the Spanish version of crème Brule. Of course, a lot of Catalans would argue, crème Brule is France’s version of Crema Catalana. This dessert is also called Crema de Sant Josep, traditionally prepared on 19th of March. The most important thing is to refrigerate for few hours before serving.
Advice: Make it the day before and leave it in the refrigator until you are ready to serve. Keep in mind that you will need some time to caramelize the sugar!
Ingredients
- 500g whole milk
- 5 large egg yolks
- 1 vanilla pod
- 100g superfine sugar
- Additional sugar to caramelize the top
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ a stick of cinnamon
- Big slice of a peel from a lemon and from an orange
- Optional: fresh fruit (figs, strawberries, blueberries or strawberries) to top
Preparation
- In a pan, beat eggs and sugar until thoroughly blended and the mixture turns frothy and let it for a while.
- Put milk in a saucepan; add cinnamon stick and peel of orange and lemon.
- Split the vanilla pod lengthways and add this too, then gently bring to boil.
- Remove from the heat and allow infusing for 15-20 minutes.
- Pass the milk through a sieve and discard everything else, then return the milk to the pan and place over a medium heat.
- Just before it reaches a boiling point, slowly add the egg mixture. Stir the mixture around 7-10 minutes until you feel resistance.
- Remove the cinnamon stick and the mixture from the heat and pour into individuals ramekins.
- Allow to cool, then refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours.
- Remove the ramekins with crema catalana and sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar on top of each crema and caramelize using a blowtorch (you will need around 10 minutes – allow the sugar to turn gold and brown).
- Remove then and serve immediately. In this step you can add the fresh fruits.