Crema Catalana

Posted: February 07, 2017

Categories: Pressure Cooker Recipes

Duromatic Pressure Cooker : serves 6 - 8 as a dessert

INGREDIENTS

500ml fresh cream
6 egg yolks
80g caster Sugar
1 cinnamon ttick (or 1tsp. of cinnamon powder)
1 orange, zested (or lemon, or mandarin, or a little bit of each)

For Garnish

few shavings of nutmeg
about 4 tbsp. raw sugar for caramelising

Additional Equipment

Vegetable Peeler
Small Saucepan
Fine-mesh strainer
Pourable container (about 3 cup capacity)
Small Bowl
Aluminum Foil
Plastic Wrap
Culinary Torch (optional) or Grill

METHOD

Begin by heating up the cream, citrus zest and cinnamon stick on low heat stirring occasionally. When the cream begins to boil (foam) turn off the heat and let the ingredients infuse (about 30 minutes).
In the meantime, prepare your pressure cooker by adding two cups of water, the trivet (if needed) and steamer basket.
In a mixing bowl, add the egg yolks and sugar, whisk until the sugar is dissolved.
When the cream has cooled to room temperature (it should feel neither hot nor cold when you stick your finger in it) add the yolks and stir with your whisk just enough to get everything mixed together well (do not whip).
Pour the mixture slowly through a strainer into a spouted container or jug (if you have one, it will make pouring the mixture into the cups or ramekins easy).
Pour the mixture into ramekins, cover tightly with foil and arrange in steamer basket so that all are sitting straight (otherwise you will get a crooked diagonal crema).
Lower the basket into the pressure cooker carefully, and if you still have some vertical space and extra cups, you can stack the additional cups on top in a second layer.
Close and lock the pressure cooker. Turn the heat up to high and calculate 8 minutes cooking time for ramekins and only 5 minutes cooking time for espresso cups at LOW pressure.
When the time is up, open the pressure cooker using the Natural Release method - move the cooker to a cold burner and don't do anything. Wait for the pressure to come down naturally (about 10 minutes).
Open the pressure cooker and carefully lift out the custards. Open the first ramekin and jiggle it a bit. It should be nearly solid, but not liquid (this means they have set)- they will solidify further when chilled. If they are still very liquid, pressure cook for an additional 5 minutes with the same opening procedure noted above.
Remove the custards and leave to cool uncovered for about 30-45 minutes.
Once the custards are cooled, cover them in plastic wrap and place them in the refrigerator to chill for 3-4 hours or overnight.
Before serving, remove the custards from the refrigerator, grate a little nutmeg and sprinkle the top of the custard with a thin, even layer of sugar. Then, either melt the sugar with a culinary torch or slide them under the grill to melt and caramellise the sugar.