madebyjade

This is the Catalonians’ version of crème caramel, adapted from the recipe book The Love of Spanish and Mexican Cooking. It dates back to 1981 and has personal notes written by my paternal grandmother, Adele de Waal. My grandparents on both side (and both my parents for that matter) lived in Brandfort, a small dorp (village) in the Free State. I never knew my paternal grandmother, but the stories I hear of her make me want to cook more and more just to be a bit closer to her. I have heard stories of her making basil pesto (in Brandfort!) before pesto become the vogue. When I paged through the book, my eyes could not miss the Crema Catalan. Here is my version… make it yours.

For 4 people you need:

2 ½ cups milk

1 stick cinnamon

Rind of one lemon, finely grated

6 eggs, separated (instructions follow)

3 T cornflour (Maïzena)

½ cup sugar

Half a vanilla pod, cut in half, or ½ t vanilla essence

How to go about it:

Heat 2 cups of the milk in a small saucepan, together with the lemon rind, vanilla pod and cinnamon over a medium heat. When you can see it bubbles on the surface or at the sides, it is boiling, so turn down the heat so that it heats slowly over a low heat, which is to simmer. Take care that it does not start foaming and rising over the pan, the heat is the a bit too hot. This will take about 5 minutes; turn off the heat after that.
Have two bowls (a deepish one is good for the yolks, as not to make a mess when whisking), separate the eggs. Take one egg in your hand; give it a light crack in the middle with a knife or at the side of your egg white bowl, a stainless steel bowl one. Turn the egg lengthways again like you want to open it, and then open it slowly and with the uttermost care so that the white spills out into the stainless steel bowl, then slide the yolk back into the other half of the egg shell so that only the yolk remains. Throw the yolk into the other bowl. Watch out that you do not get any yolk in with the whites (vice versa is not a problemo), if you want to have a go at meringues. Check for any egg shells in between. Next whisk in the remaining milk (½ cup) with the yolks and add the cornflour. Make sure there are no lumps of flour, so whisk like your arm twists of! It’s only for 10 seconds, though.
Strain the milk through a sift into a clean pan. Add 2 T of the sugar and the yolk mixture, stir constantly with your whisk while you through this in. The egg-mix should not be to hot, otherwise it may scramble. Turn the heat on, the lowest possible setting you can go, and whisk the mixture all the time, while it thickens, about 5 minutes. It may seem labour-intensive, but it has been done before and you can do it! It is ready when you are able to coat the back of a wooden spoon with the glossy mixture. Please don’t let it curdle, the heat is too hot! Save it by whisking hard, placing the pan in some colds water to cool off, or whizzing it in the food processor – a bit of a cheat there but sometimes it works.
Pour into shallow heatproof serving dishes (4 small individual ones) or one big all rounder, allow to cool in the fridge for 1 hour. Put the grill on high, put a rack directly under the grill, the nearest you can go.
When the custard had set, sprinkle the remaining sugar over with a teaspoon, evenly over the surface. Place it under the very hot grill for 1-2 minutes to caramelize and melt the sugar until brown. Remove and let it cool down a bit and the sugar harden again.

My mom likes it hot, straight from the pan to the oven to the table, while it is very hot. You can do it either way.