Catalan Cream

Prepare the ingredients. Prepare all the ingredients - we will be cooking with them in a moment 🍮✨

Add the spices to the milk. Pour the milk into a saucepan, add the vanilla sugar or the seeds from a vanilla pod (split the pod lengthwise and scrape out the seeds), the cinnamon, and the zest of one lemon

Heat the milk. Heat the milk over medium heat, but do not bring it to a boil, only almost to the boiling point, so the aromas are released

Whisk the egg yolks. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and starch into a smooth cream

Combine the milk with the eggs. Once the milk is hot, slowly pour it into the egg mixture, stirring constantly (without the cinnamon and zest) so the yolks do not curdle, then return the mixture to the saucepan

Heat and stir the cream. Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens and becomes creamy, but do not boil it so it does not curdle, then remove from the heat

Let the cream set. Pour the cream into bowls, let it cool slightly, then place it in the refrigerator for several hours to set

Caramelize the sugar. Before serving, sprinkle each portion with about 30 g of brown sugar and caramelize it with a kitchen torch or under the oven grill on high for several minutes until a golden crust forms

Serve. Serve immediately while the caramel crust is crisp 🍮🍽️✨