Barcelona
- Recipes - Desserts
Crema
Catalana
- Catalan
Cream Custard
Servings Size: 6
4 1/2 cup milk
7 egg yolks
1 1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 stick cinnamon
1/2 lemon, rind
Heat 3 1/2 cups
milk with cinnamon stick broken in pieces and lemon rind. Bring
to a boil and simmer 5 to 6 minutes. Separate yolks from whites.
Add half of remaining cold milk to yolks and beat well. Add rest
of cold milk to cornstarch and beat.
Strain boiled
milk into clean saucepan. While stirring it constantly over the
fire without letting it come to a boil, add in rapid succession
2/3 cup sugar, the egg yolk mixture, and the cornstarch diluted
in milk. The custard will thicken quickly. Continue stirring until
it is the consistency of a thick cream sauce. Pour at once into
six shallow dessert plates.
When custard
has cooled to room temperature, sprinkle surface with remaining
sugar. Put under hot broiler just long enough to turn sugar an even
light brown. Chill cream before serving.
Carquiñolis
1 lb flour
3/4 lb sugar
3/4 lb marzipan
1 cup milk
1/3 lb of thickening agent
1/3 lb almonds toasted
Lemon rind, grated
A little cinnamon
The marzipan
is made in the traditional way, mixing the egg whites, almonds and
icing sugar. Next mix the flour with the sugar, add the milk and
the marzipan. Knead with the hands and gradually add the thickening
agent, the almonds, the grated rind and cinnamon.
Roll out the
dough mixture on greaseproof paper on a baking tray, and place in
the oven at 150ºC for about 15 minutes. Then remove and cut
the mixture into strips two centimetres wide, glaze with the egg
yolk and return to the oven until it turns golden.
Catalan Nougat - Turron de Agramunt
1 1/3 cup honey
2 egg whites, stiffly beaten
1/2 lb almonds, blanched, peeled and kept warm
3 1/2 oz hazelnuts, roasted, peeled and kept warm (about 3/4 cup)
Edible rice paper
Put the honey
in a heavy saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir it with a wooden
spoon and when the honey begins to boil, remove the pan from the
heat. Continue stirring until the honey thins to the consistency
of pancake syrup. Stir in the egg whites and return the mixture
to the heat; continue cooking until it reaches a toffee-like consistency
(hard-ball stage). Stir in the nuts and mix well.
Spread the mixture in a jelly-roll pan lined with edible rice paper.
Cover with a second sheet of rice paper and weight the top. Let
it cool, then cut the nougat into 1-inch squares.
When making nougat, the nuts should be warm. Cover freshly peeled
nuts with foil to retain the warmth they gained in blanching or
roasting; wrap previously peeled nuts in foil and warm them in a
200°F. oven for 15 minutes.
El
xocolata
2 oz of a black
chocolate bar
3 teaspoons maizena (cornflour)
1 cup milk
Sugar, depending on your preference
Thin out the
maïzena in some milk. In a saucepan, melt the chocolate, which
should be cut in small pieces, or better, grated. Add the milk gradually,
then, the maizena and the sugar. Cook over a low heat while stirring
constantly till the mixture thickens. Eat with churros (doughnuts
that can be found in the frozen food section of hypermarkets).
Leche
Frita - Baked Milk
Serving Size: 6
2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
4 oz sugar
3 oz maizena (cornflour)
Peel of 1 small lemon
Peel of 1/2 orange
1 cinnamon stick
Knob of butter
To coat:
2 medium eggs, beaten
Cold water
Oil (for frying)
1 cup fine breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons sugar, mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
Mix together the eggs, yolks, sugar and maizena (cornflour). Meanwhile,
heat the milk together with the orange and lemon peel and cinnamon
stick until it begins to boil. Remove from the heat and leave to
sit for about 5 minutes to cool. Now strain the milk into the egg
mixture and stir well. Pour all this back into the pot and put back
on the heat, stirring constantly until the custard thickens. Reduce
the heat, stirring constantly, and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
Now pour the
thickened mixture into a lightly greased 8-inch (20cm) cake tin,
spreading it to a thickness of 1-inch (2.5cm). Allow to cool before
putting it into the fridge to chill for a few hours.
Make the coating
now by beating the eggs with 2 tbsps water in a large shallow bowl.
Start heating the oil (about 1 inch/2.5cm depth) in a large frying
pan. When firm, turn out the custard onto a plate or board and cut
into 1-inch (2.5cm) thick squares or slices. Dip the custard pieces
into the egg mixture then toss them in breadcrumbs. Now fry these,
a few at a time, in the hot oil until they turn golden. Remove to
a serving plate and sprinkle over the sugar/cinnamon mix.
Serve hot or cold.
Flam
Serving Size: 4
3/4 lb white
sugar
1 tablespoon cold water
1/2 lemon, juice
1 tablespoon boiling water
5 medium eggs
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence or 1 vanilla pod
Preheat the oven to low, 150°C/300°F. Start by making the
caramel sauce: in a heavy-based pot, put 100g of the sugar, with
the cold water and lemon juice. Allow to heat very gently until
the sugar caramelises (shake the pot occasionally for this to happen
evenly) and turns a deep golden colour. Do not allow this to boil.
Take off the heat and stir in the boiling water, carefully. Put
the pot back on the heat to dissolve the caramel in the water.
Now pour this
sauce into the base of either 1 large serving dish, or 4 individual
ramekin dishes or moulds. Now make the custard by whisking the eggs
and remaining sugar together. Heat the milk and vanilla pod until
very hot, but not boiling, then let it sit for about 10 minutes.
Take out the pod. Now, beat the milk into the egg mixture (add the
vanilla essence if you did not use a pod).
Pour the egg
mix into the serving dish(es) and place carefully in an ovenproof
dish. Pour hot water into this dish to come half way up the sides
of the serving dish(es), and cook for about an hour or until set.
To serve, let the custards cool, run a knife around the edge of
the dish and then invert onto a serving plate. This can be served
with thick cream.
Menjar
Blanc - Almond Cream
Serving Size: 4
1/2 lb almonds,
raw peeled
4 cup of water
3 oz cornflour (maizena)
1 stick of cinnamon
1 lemon, rind
1/2 lb sugar
Put the water on the flame and when it begins to boil, turn off
the flame and drop the lemon rind and the cinnamon into the water.
Cover, leave to soak around 5 minutes and drain. Place the almonds
in the flavoured water, blend, cover and leave the mixture to soak
for 4 hours.
Strain through
a cloth, squeezing well to extract all the flavour of the almonds.
Mix the resulting liquid little by little with the sugar and the
cornflour so that there are no lumps. Heat and stir until it comes
to the boil. Place into tins, leave to cool and serve cold.
