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Spanish

Crema catalana

Contains egg (no meat or fish)

A Catalan stovetop custard flavoured with lemon zest and cinnamon, chilled and topped with a crackly caramelised sugar crust.

Crema catalana is a Spanish dessert from Spain, ready in about 3 hours 30 minutes and made with milk and egg yolk. It serves 4 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking
Crema catalana, a lime/cinnamon-flavourd custard with a caramelized top
Photo: Popo le Chien / Wikimedia Commons · CC0-1.0
Prep
15 min
Cook
15 min
Rest
3 h
Total
3 h 30 min
Serves
4
Level
Easy
Calories
288

Ingredients

4 servings

For the topping

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Heat most of the milk (opens in a new tab) with the lemon zest (opens in a new tab) and cinnamon (opens in a new tab) until steaming, then take off the heat and infuse for 10 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Whisk (opens in a new tab) the yolks, sugar (opens in a new tab), cornstarch (opens in a new tab) and the remaining cold milk (opens in a new tab) until smooth. Strain the warm milk onto the mixture, whisking, and return to the pan.

    Eggs being whisked in a bowl
    How it looks · Photo: Kampus Production on Pexels

  3. Step 3

    Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until the custard thickens and just begins to bubble. Pour into shallow dishes and cool, then chill for at least 3 hours.

    • 185 min
    • low heat

    Food safety: Cook until the custard thickens and bubbles so the yolks are fully cooked.

  4. Step 4

    Just before serving, sprinkle with sugar (opens in a new tab) and caramelise with a blowtorch or traditional hot iron until amber and crisp.

    • 3 min
    Fresh herbs scattered over a finished dish
    How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Catalonia, Spain · Well documentedTraditionally eaten on St Joseph's Day (19 March).More food from Spain
Dish
Dessert · Desserts
Cooking method
Simmered
Taste
creamy, sweet, citrusy, aromatic / warmly spiced
Diet
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No gluten ingredients · No nut ingredients
All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No gluten ingredients · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-sodium
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Make-ahead · Festive & celebration
Cook more with
Milk · Egg yolk · Lemon zest · Cinnamon · Sugar · Cornstarch
Techniques
Simmering

Allergens

  • Contains: Milkfrom milk
  • Contains: Eggsfrom egg yolk

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

288 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 187 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 9%
  • Carbohydrate 64%
  • Fat 27%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy288 kcal154 kcal
Protein6.8 g3.6 g
Carbohydrate46.6 g24.9 g
Net carbohydrate46 g24.6 g
Sugars41 g21.9 g
Added sugars34.4 g18.4 g
Fibre0.6 g0.3 g
Fat8.7 g4.6 g
Saturated fat4 g2.1 g
Trans fat——
Cholesterol197 mg105 mg
Sodium64 mg34 mg
Salt equivalent0.2 g0.1 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
195 mg
Calcium
177 mg
Iron
0.6 mg
Magnesium
15 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
124 µg
Vitamin C
2 mg
Vitamin D
2.6 µg
Vitamin B12
0.9 µg
Folate (DFE)
31 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Shallow, wide dishes give more crunchy caramel per spoonful.

Common mistakes

  • Stopping whisking, which lets the custard catch and go lumpy.

Storage

  • Keeps 2 days in the fridge before caramelising.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 2

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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