Crema⚱️ Catalana Recipe

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Crema⚱️ Catalana Recipe:-Crema Catalana, a Spanish custard flavored with citrus and cinnamon and finished with caramelized sugar, is a lighter and easier version of crème brûlée. Make this gluten-free dessert to wow a crowd at your next dinner party, holiday, or special occasion.

Crema Catalana Recipe

1. What’s the Difference Between Crema Catalana and Crème Brûlée?

  • Using heavy whipping cream and baking it in a water bath, crème brûlée is a French vanilla custard that is significantly more decadent than other custards.
  • Crema Catalana is a type of custard that is traditionally prepared in Spain using milk and flavored with cinnamon and citrus.
  • Crema Catalana is a lighter and more delicate dessert than crème brûlée. This is due to the fact that it is made with milk rather than heavy cream.
  • The Crema Catalana is often less sweet than other types of Crema, and it is prepared on the stove rather than in the oven, which makes it simpler to determine when it is done.
  • These are the differences that have been stated above. Additionally, you won’t have to worry about a water bath, which is an additional advantage.

 

2. What is in Crema Catalana? 

  • Crema Catalana uses simple, readily available ingredients. Avoid switching ingredients or amounts because the custard may have textural concerns with its basic ingredient list.
  • Use entire milk for creamiest texture. Don’t use heavy cream or reduced-fat milk.
  • Egg yolks: Egg yolks thicken and enrich custard instead of entire eggs. For egg white frittatas, meringue, cocktails, and nougat, save the whites.
  • Cornstarch: Another thickening that prevents egg yolk curdling is cornstarch.
  • Regular or extra-fine granulated sugar works best for custard and caramel.
  • Zest: Crema Catalana usually has orange and lemon zest, but you can use either. Peel a long, wide zest strip with a vegetable peeler. Scrape off excess pith (the bitter white layer under the zest) with a tiny knife.
  • On the stove, one cinnamon stick gradually infuses milk with a more delicate flavor than ground cinnamon.
    Salt increases the flavors of savory and sweet desserts.

 

3. How to Make this Recipe

  • Crema Catalana requires little manual labor. After separating eight eggs, the hardest part is waiting four hours to chill. Torching the sugar is my favorite part—it’s the most dramatic and usually gets lots of “oohs” and “ahhs,” but it’s easy.
  • Get ready: Use a fine mesh sieve over a big measuring cup or mixing bowl with a spout. Get six 6-ounce ramekins.
  • Whisk eggs: Mix ½ cup sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, ½ teaspoon salt, and 8 egg yolks in a large bowl until light and smooth. Set aside. Egg yolks whisked with sugar, cornstarch, and salt.
  • Infuse the milk: Simmer 4 cups milk, 1 strip each of lemon and orange zest, and 1 cinnamon stick in a medium, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Milk should be stirred occasionally when heating to avoid scalding.
  • Temper the eggs: Remove the pan from heat when the milk simmers. Discard the zest and cinnamon stick with tongs. Whisk the yolks while carefully pouring hot milk, one splash at a time, into the bowl. Slowly adding hot
  • milk to yolks tempers them without curdling.Gently whisking warm milk into eggs to temper them.
    Thicken and simmer:
  • Return the mixture to the pot after adding all the milk. Whisk frequently over medium-low heat until the custard thickens and simmers, about 5 minutes. Continue whisking for 1 minute after it bubbles.Cooking crema Catalana in a pot until thick.
  • Drain and pour: Off the heat, strain the custard through a sieve into a large measuring cup or spouted mixing basin. Divide the custard among six ramekins. Cover each ramekin with plastic wrap directly on the custard. Refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours.
  • A blue rubber spatula pushing Crema Catalana through a fine mesh sieve over a white basin.Six torchable Crema Catalana.
  • Ignite!: Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of sugar on each custard before serving. Light your kitchen torch 4 inches over the sugar. Circularly heat the sugar until it caramelizes to a deep brown.
  • Serve: Serve the custards now. Sucrose absorbs moisture from its surroundings. The crunchy caramel coating will soften and liquefy with water.

4. Tips for Cooking Crema Catalana 

  • Custard difficulties usually result from overcooking. Cornstarch and no baking make this recipe stronger. Tips for preparing the greatest Crema Catalana:
  • aSlow down when adding milk. If you add boiling milk too quickly, the eggs may curdle. Unfortunately, you must start afresh and slowly add the milk while whisking.
  • Simmer custard for 1 minute. After thickening on the stove, custard might be overcooked. After the custard bubbles, cook it for one minute and remove from heat.
  • The cornstarch must be fully cooked to avoid a loose custard, but if overcooked, the egg yolks will curdle. If it hasn’t gone too far, a sieve should remove lumps.
  • Lumpy custard is edible but the texture may be unpleasant.
    Stir constantly. Always whisk the eggs while tempering and cooking on the burner to avoid curdling.

5. How to Create the Caramelized Sugar Crust

  • A pala, an iron disk with a handle cooked directly in a fire or stove, is used to make Crema Catalana’s sugar crust. Pala’s are fun to use but difficult to clean compared to a kitchen torch.
  • For those without one, ordering a kitchen torch online is simple. It’s as satisfying as a pala and shows caramelization better.
  • Heat the custard evenly by holding the flame 4 inches above the sugar and moving it slowly in circles. After melting, sugar caramelizes. Turn off the torch when the sugar is deep brown but not burned.

 

Author

  • JASMINE GOMEZ

    Jasmine Gomez is the Wishes Editor at Birthday Stock, where she cover the best wishes, quotes across family, friends and more. When she's not writing for a living, she enjoys karaoke and dining out more than she cares to admit. Who we are and how we work. We currently have seven trained editors working in our office to produce top-notch content that you can rely on. All articles are published according to the four-eyes principle: After completion of the raw version, the texts are checked by (at least) one other editor for orthographic and content accuracy.

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