Catalan Cream (Crema Catalana- al trencadís de caramel)

Finally, a traditional Catalan dessert: Crema Catalana It is also called crema cremada or crema de Sant Josep.
There is some small differences with the French version, Crème Brûlée, but as far as I know, the French version uses cream instead of milk, and this version is cook in a different way (Bain Marie, water bath).
The traditional presentation of Crema Catalana, looks like this, and you will need a butane torch or the typical way, un cremador.
As I don´t have any of these, I am going to show you another presentation that I found in a webpage called Cuinetes that looks very cool! The recipe is called "Crema Catalana amb trencadís de caramel".

What you need for 4 people:

500 ml whole milk
220 gr sugar
5 egg yolks
1 cinnamon stick
1 lemon zest
20 gr cornflour or starch
1 tsp of vainilla flavour-optional

For the caramel
4 tbsp water
3 tbsp sugar

Let´s start

1.In a bowl, add the egg yolks with the cornflour and a tbsp of milk. Beat it.
2.In a saucepan, add the milk, with the sugar, lemon zest and cinnamon stick. You can also add some vainilla flavour. Mix it.
3. When it starts to boil, remove the saucepan from the heat and let it cool down a little bit
4. Add this to the bowl with the egg yols and cornflour and keep beating all the time.
5. Sift this into another bigger saucepan at medium heat and keep beating all the time till it gets thicker. Remove it from the heat when it starts to boil.
6. Pour the catalan cream into different recipients and let it cool down. Then put it in the fridge.
7. Prepare the caramel. In a small saucepan or frying pan, add the sugar and water. When it gets a little bit brown, stir it with a spoon and remove it from the heat. Pour it in a surface with baking paper and put another baking paper on the top. With a rolling pin, make it thinner and regular. Let it cool down and remove the baking paper. Break it or shape it the way you like. Add the caramel before serving it and the Crema is cool down.

You don´t know what to do with the extra whites? Go for a Pavlova

Enjoy / Bon Profit!

Pavlova

Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer Ánna Pávlova. Colloquially referred to as "pav", it is a cake similar to meringue with a crispy crust and soft, light inner.
The dessert is believed to have been created in honour of the dancer either during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. The nationality of its creator has been a source of argument between the two nations for many years, but formal research indicates New Zealand as the more probable source (that is what wikipedia says...I don´t know!).

Why am I baking a Pavlova? Cause I am just back from Australia!

If you want to have a look to some videos, there are some in youtube to have a rough idea (video 1, video 2)

Want to hear and read this recipe in Catalan? Vols escoltar i llegir la recepta en Català? Go to this post

What you need

For the meringue

5 egg whites

240 gr castor sugar

2 tsp cornflour

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 tbsp vainilla extract

For the whipping cream

350 ml of double cream

5 tablespoon castor sugar

+ some fruit as decoration. In my case 4 kiwis, but strawberries and blueberries are very common too.

Comment: vinegar + cornflour can be replaced by a pinch of Cream of Tartar, if you have it. The aim of all these ingredients it to make it crispy outside.

Let´s start

1.Preheat the oven at 140ªC

2.Beat up the whites (previously at room temperature) for a while. Some people add a pinch of salt here. Then slowly add the sugar while beating the egg whites.That is important, take your time adding the sugar. Keep beating all the time. When it is much thicker, add the sifted cornflour, the vainilla extract and the vinegar. Slowly and keep beating....until it holds very stiff peaks.

3.Then grab your meringue and pour it into a tray with baking paper. Shape it the way you like. I like it a little bit tall and round the sides with an spatula.

4. Put it into the oven. Reduce the temperature at 125ºC. For 1 hour and a half.

5. After this time: Switch the oven off BUT keep the cake inside the oven for 15 min. Then open a little bit the door of the oven for 10 more minutes with the cake inside. We want this cake to cool down veeeeery slowly or it is going to collapse.

6. Add the whipping cream (beat the double cream with the castor sugar previously) on the top.

7. Decorate it with fruit. Put it in the fridge.

You don´t know what to do with the extra egg yolks, go for a Crema Catalana

Enjoy/ Bon Profit!