This is how you make Catalan cream at home

The burning takes place on March 19th, to celebrate Saint Joseph's Day. Pastry chef Èric Ortuño, from L'Atelier de Barcelona, ​​explains the steps for making it at home and achieving that aroma that writer Josep Pla claimed permeates homes whenever it's made. The writer from Empordà referred to it in his work as cream. In the book The gray notebook, thus mentions her: "My mother has done burning", but in the volumes ofWhat we have eaten calls him burnt cream: "I have still eaten in private homes, wonderful burnt creams, excellent cakes, unbeatable fritters and many other delicacies of the same stamp."

Ingredients for 8 cream tartlets (9 cm in diameter each)

• 500 g milk
• 30 g cornstarch + 20 g cold milk
• 100 g sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 lemon peel

To burn the cream

• Sugar (amount to taste)

Making Catalan cream

1. Bring the milk to a boil in a saucepan over the heat along with the flavorings, i.e., the cinnamon and lemon.
2. Meanwhile, dilute the cornstarch with the cold milk, sugar, and egg yolks.
3. When the milk comes to a boil, pour in the freshly diluted ingredients. They should all boil together.
4. When you see that the boiling point is not bubbling and that the mixture has formed a compact mass, turn off the heat and let it cool.
5. When the cream is cold, sprinkle sugar on top and, using a kitchen blowtorch or a cream whisk (electric or iron, which you will have previously placed on the stove so that it is red hot), whip it to your liking.

Enjoy!

The cream, up for debate

This dessert has always been associated with the arrival of good weather, the increase in daylight hours, the beginning of spring, and the increase in egg laying (the recipe uses several), but for some time now, its preparation has evolved thanks to several chefs working to transform its texture. So much so that today, the cream can be eaten in bites and at any time of year. For lovers of culinary innovations and for those who prefer traditional preparation, we explain all the secrets to making a good cream.

Some prefer to eat it without the burnt sugar layer on top, while others believe it should always be there. And between the two, there are even more options for preparing it at home, such as with seasonal fruits, those that barely begin with spring.