The Original Crema Catalana Recipe
HOMEMADE CATALAN CREME BRULEE RECIPE
You can’t leave Barcelona without trying Catalan cream. It’s a classic dessert: Catalan custard is served in most traditional restaurants and tapas bars, and it’s an iconic dish from the Catalonia Cuisine.
The Catalan cream flavor will remind you of the French creme brulee, but that’s not strange: in history, Catalonia and France have been closely linked and that’s why the Catalan cuisine has a remarkable French influence.
Here is our easy Catalan cream recipe:
1
Ingredients for 4 people:
- 0.5 liter of milk (0.13 gallons)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 lemon peel (make sure to remove as much as the inner white as possible)
- 4 egg yolks
- 100 grams of white sugar (3.5 ounces)
- 20 grams of corn starch (0.70 ounces)
- Some more white sugar to burn
2
Boil the milk
Pour the milk in a pot, add a cinnamon stick and the lemon peel and bring to a boil. When it starts boiling, turn off the heat and let it infusion for a few minutes.
3
Add the eggs
Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and the corn starch, until it’s very smooth and free of lumps.
Bring the milk to boil again, and when it’s boiling add the eggs mix and turn down the heat. Stir with a wooden spatula to avoid lumps. In less than one minute it should have thickened. Turn off the heat.
4
Plate
Remove the lemon peel and the cinnamon stick and pour your Catalan custard into baking ramekins or earthenware casseroles. Cover each of them with plastic wrap so the surface doesn’t harden. Let it cool.
5
Burn
Sprinkle some white sugar over your Catalan cream and burn it with a kitchen blowtorch or a burning iron. Now it’s ready to be eaten!
AND BONUS! Don't have a blowtorch?
6
Burning tools
Blow torches are a cool gadget to have in your kitchen if you love cooking and baking. Use it to burn your creme brulee, or to create a sugary crust on top of your meringues and other pastries, caramelizing desserts or even… to roast peppers! This one seems to be a favorite on Amazon, and works with refillable butane gas. Prefer to go the traditional way? Use this burning iron instead, that you heat directly over the flame of your gas stove or on top of an electric burner until it’s red hot.
Enjoy making this classic Crema Catalana recipe!
Marta
Marta is the founder of ForeverBarcelona. She is a passionate tour guide that loves Barcelona and loves writing too. She is the main author of our Blog, and is committed to sharing her knowledge about Barcelona and her best tips with our readers.
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