Catalan Cream in Spanish: 'crema catalana' is also known as Crema de Sant Josep, a typical dessert of Catalonia in Spain. It consists of a custard base crème caramel and a caramelized, crisp sugar topping. The custard might be flavored with lemon, orange zest or simply cinnamon.
You will see how delicious Catalan Cream might be. It is rich and creamy and will melt in your mouth. Great dessert for spring time, since traditionally this dessert was prepared on March 19th, St. Joseph’s Day, the Spanish equivalent of Father’s Day in the USA. But to be honest, I can eat it entire year. Just try and you will see what I mean.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooling Time: 2-3 hours
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 cups sugar
- 8 egg yolks
- 2-3 Tbsp cornstarch
- 2 sticks cinnamon
- grated rind of 1 lemon and 1 orange
- 3 cups milk (3.2%)
Method:
1. In a pot, beat together the egg yolks and add 1 cup of sugar. Beat until throughly mixed. Add cinnamon sticks, grated lemon and orange rind. Add the milk and cornstarch.
2. On low heat, slowly heat the mixture. Do not stop stirring. Cook until thickened. The texture should be smooth and creamy. Then immediately remove from the heat.
3. Remove the cinnamon sticks and ladle the milk mixture into ramekins or little bowls. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours.
4. Before serving, preheat the broiler. Remove ramekins with the catalan cream from refrigerator and sprinkle the rest of the sugar over each ramekin. When broiler is hot, place the ramekins under the broiler on the top shelf and allow the sugar to caramelize, turning gold and brown. This may take 10 minutes or so, depending on your broiler.
5. Remove and serve immediately. You can also carefully glaze the sugar using a mini-blow torch.
ENJOY!!!