Crema Catalana (English Version)

Crème Catalane (Version Française)

Entremets is a french word used to define the category of "creamy" desserts. They also are my capital sin. When I see a new entremet recipe, something I havn't tried yet, you can be sure I will test it in the next 24 hours or so. That's what happened to me yesterday evening. A bout of an obsessive compulsive behaviour took me over the Crème Catalane recipe posted by Avital on her blog Le Pétrin (blog in french).

It was 9:40 PM when I read Avital's article. My new year's resolution is to be in bed by 10:00 every evening. I tend to go to bed way too late. I feel I have time for myself only when husband and kids are asleep and I therefore keep for late evenings my leisury activities like blogs or book reading. In a 5 persons household, you pretty much have to lock yourself in the bathroom if you want to be left alone for few minutes. And thinking about it, not even there can I be left alone for more than few minutes in a row. But I seriously can't continue to play mindlessly with my sleeping hours anymore. If my day seemed only filled with my tending or listening to others, making chores and taking care of 3 young boys with no time left for my little me, then too bad. I have to go to bed at 10:00 PM and tomorrow will hopefully allow me more time for much needed and enjoyed personnal activities.

It was 9:40 PM... That cream was so tempting! I quickly made it. By 10:00 PM it was poured in nice little ramequins, covered with plastic wrap and in the fridge. I like it so much when things are so easy and quick to make, yet hold the promise to be delectable. This afternoon we enjoyed it for the 4 o'clock snack. It was divine! I had the hardest time not whipping it up a second time for the evening dessert.

Crema Catalona is a traditionnal dessert from the Catalonia region in North of Spain. When I think of Catalonia, I'm brought back to my young adult years (I was 18 to 20 years old) and wonderful week-ends I spent with friends in one of the most party friendly and enjoyable towns, Barcelona. The souvenir of catalan fares during these crazy week-ends we organized often right after the stress of final exams at the university probably was part of my impatience to try Avital's recipe. And this even if I knew upon reading the instructions this cream would be somewhat similar to crème brûlée. It is said by the way that the famous french dessert was inspired by the crema catalona sometime during the 17th century.

Since Le Pétrin is a french blog, I will take the liberty to translate Avital's recipe for Crema Catalona. But I encourage you to go over to Le Pétrin and take a look the pictures of the food she makes. Even if you can't understand what she writes, It's worth a visit.

Avital says you can pretty much use any spice or flavoring you like for the Crème Catalane. It can be made as simple or as complex as you like. I used a different spices mix than hers. Traditionnaly though, Crema Catalana is flavoured with cinnamon and saffron. To caramelize the thin coating of sugar on top of the cold cream, Catalonia people use a special iron. Since it's a very local kitchen tool, the method of broiling or the use of a kitchen torch like it is done for crème brûlée will be less authentic but more convenient. Some purists insist the crema catalana has a different taste when anything but the traditional iron is used. Since I never tasted it in Spain, I can't really compare.

Crema Catalana

2 cups milk
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar minus a tablespoon (it's 100 g sugar)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Zest of a lemon or a lime
Spices or flavours of your choice. Traditionnally cinnamon and saffron.

Avital's suggested this spice blend : Cinnamon, orange blossom water, saffron (or turmeric) lemon or lime zest.

My spice blend is:
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 star anise
1/4 teaspoon powdered cinnamon (or a stick)
1/4 teaspoon powdered green cardamom
1/4 teaspoon anise seeds
Pinch of saffron threads
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon orange blossom water

Take 1/4 of a cup of milk from the 2 cups you measured and set aside in a small bowl. It must be cold, so it's best to keep it in the fridge until needed.

Pour the remaining milk to a saucepan and add all the flavourings except for the vanilla extract and the orange blossom water. Slowly bring to a simmer on medium-low heat. A trick I have to prevent the milk proteine from sticking in the botton of the saucepan is to wet the later with cold water before adding the milk and beginning to heat it. Allow to simmer a minute and remove from heat. Cover and allow to steep while you prepare the rest of the recipe.

In a bowl big enough to hold the infused milk, using an electric whisk, mix the sugar and egg yolks until the mixture whitens, increases in volume and holds ribbon when dropped from a wooden spoon.

Mix well the cornstarch in the 1/4 cup milk you put aside. Add the mixture to the egg yolks. Pour the spice infused milk through a fine sieve over the egg yolks mixture. Discard the spices.

Return the custard to the saucepan and cook on low heat, whisking continuously, until the mixture has thickened. You shouldn't be able to "feel" the starch on our tongue if you taste the custard.

Add vanilla extract and orange blossom water, mixing well to incorporate fully. Pour in ramequins and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to cool before refrigerating until totally cold.

When ready to serve, sprinkle sugar on top of the crema catalana. If you have a kitchen torch, burn the sugar to a dark caramel. If you don't have a torch, simply put all the ramequins in a roasting pan. Add water and ice cubes to half the ramequin sides. Put under the broil in the oven, the closer to the heating element the better. Broil until sugar has caramelised.

Enjoy at once.


PS: I made an other batch tonight at my husband's request. The boys and myself didn' t left him any from this afternoon. He was not too happy since he saw the crema catalana ramequins in the fridge before leaving for the office this morning and was expecting a nice dessert for tonight. In France we say "Absent people are always wrong." :-)) But I took pity on him and made him some, only this time using cinnamon, vanilla, saffron and orange blossom water. I could have used lemon or lime zest but I forgot. Of course I had to taste the new version... The citrus zests really make a difference and next time I will make sure to use them. The cream was still excellent.