TABELIAAUTHENTIC RECIPE
Crema catalanaCatalan Custard with Caramelized Sugar
Milk and egg yolks are infused with lemon and cinnamon and cooked into a custard in a saucepan. This Catalan dessert combines a cold centre with a thin lid of caramel.
AUTHENTICITY SCORE
Authenticity Score
This is the standard recipe, exactly as it’s made where it comes from — the highest Authenticity Score possible. Substituting ingredients changes this score; the app shows exactly how, ingredient by ingredient.
Ingredients (4 servings)
- Milk600 ml
- Egg yolks4 yolks
- Granulated sugar80 g for the custard; 30 g for the surface110 g
- Cornflour25 g
- Cinnamon stick1 stick
- Lemon peel (Japanese-grown, unwaxed)5 g
Method
Infuse the milk with citrus and cinnamon
- 1 Thinly peel 5 g of lemon zest, avoiding the white pith.
- 2 Put 500 ml of milk, 1 cinnamon stick and the lemon peel in a saucepan and warm over low heat until bubbles appear around the edges.
- 3 Turn off the heat, cover and leave for 5 minutes.
Ready when
Continue when the milk has taken on the aromas and has not boiled over.
Combine the egg yolks and starch with the milk
- 1 Mix 4 egg yolks and 80 g of sugar in a bowl.
- 2 In a separate bowl, dissolve 25 g of cornflour in the remaining 100 ml of cold milk, then mix into the yolks.
- 3 Strain the infused milk and gradually add it to the yolk mixture.
Ready when
Continue when there are no lumps of starch and the mixture is an even pale yellow.
Thicken the custard in the saucepan
- 1 Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over moderate-low heat for 5–8 minutes, scraping the bottom as you stir.
- 2 When it thickens and one or two small bubbles rise, stir over low heat for 1 minute, then turn off the heat.
- 3 Divide evenly among 4 shallow heatproof dishes.
Ready when
Continue when the custard is smooth and the marks left by the whisk disappear slowly.
Chill in the dishes
- 1 Press cling film directly onto the surface. Once the initial heat has dissipated, refrigerate for 3 hours.
Ready when
Continue when the custard is chilled to the centre and has set.
Caramelise a thin sugar crust
- 1 Remove the cling film, gently blot any surface moisture with kitchen paper, and sprinkle 30 g of sugar in a thin, even layer over the 4 dishes.
- 2 On a heatproof work surface, move a kitchen blowtorch over the sugar to caramelise only the topping, then leave for 1 minute.
Ready when
It is ready when the surface forms a thin amber sheet that breaks with a spoon.
About this dish
Crema catalana is also known as crema de Sant Josep. The name comes from the custom of eating it on 19 March, Saint Joseph's Day, which is also celebrated as Father's Day.
In Catalonia, sweets are linked to seasonal festivities. This custard is both a dessert bearing the region's name and a celebratory sweet on the spring calendar. Tracing its names reveals the relationship between food and annual celebrations.
Traditionally, a heated iron was used to caramelise the sugar on the surface. The combination of soft egg-and-milk custard and a thin layer of caramel has been passed down along with the dessert's names.
Bring the full course home next weekend.
Bring every dish to the table at its best.
Choose the dishes you want to cook, and Chef Authen handles the shopping list and the day-of schedule. The Tabelia app turns everything from starter to main into one coordinated course in your kitchen.
- One shopping listBuilt automatically from your menu and any substitutions, ready to check off.
- One timelineEvery dish’s waiting and cooking time combined into a single schedule.
- Answers beyond the recipeFrom judging the heat to adapting on the fly, Chef Authen answers with concrete criteria, not guesses.