Andorra is a country that sits nestled comfortably between Spain and France, a quick glance of a European map and you'll probably miss it. It has a population just shy of 80,000 people and has great Catalan influences, and apparently a very high life expectancy. When I was looking at dishes to cook I was surprised at how although I could see the Catalan influences they very much has a cuisine of their own with a lot of sausages and embutidos! Some of their dishes looked delicious but I decided to go for a dessert this time round and make a Crema Andorrana, something that sits between créme brûlée, an ile flottante, and a crema Catalana. The dessert is basically a cinnamon and lemon rind infused custard, with cooked whipped egg whites and a crunchy caramel sauce on top. The dish has a lot of steps but it was surprisingly quick to make - you just need to be organised.
Serves 2 - I live in a small household so adapted the recipe to suit this - most recipes are triple this so you should easily be able to make more if you like!
Ingredients
For the dessert
330ml milk
70g of sugar
1 heaped teaspoon of corn starch / or 7 grams
2 eggs
the rind of 1/2 lemon
1 cinnamon stick (you could probably use a pinch of powder instead)
For the caramel
20g sugar
1/2 tbsp of water
Method
Separate the eggs, put the yolks in a medium bowl and put the egg whites into a mixing bowl.
Take 90ml of milk and mix the corn starch into it until you have a smooth mixture. Then add this to the egg yolks and mix well. Set aside.
Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks adding about 5g of sugar. Once it reaches stiff peaks set aside.
In a small saucepan add the rest of the milk with 40g of sugar. Put the saucepan onto medium heat - and let it come to the boil. (watch it carefully so it doesn't boil over).
As soon as the milk comes to a boil add the egg whites in large spoonfuls like the first photograph below. Carefully stir the eggs whites and coat them gently in the hot milk for about 5 minutes.
Remove the egg whites from the milk with a spoon and let the egg whites sit in a sieve for a minute or two, like the second photograph.
While the egg whites sit in the sieve add the lemon rind and cinnamon to the milk you have left over, and then add any milk that has drained from the egg whites. Add the remaining 25g of sugar to the milk.
Remove the egg whites from the sieve and leave them on a plate. Don't put the sieve away you're just about to need it!
Put the milk back onto the stove and as soon as it reaches a boil remove it from the heat. By straining the milk through the sieve add about half the milk to the egg yolk mixture and stir well. Once incorporated add the rest of the milk through the sieve. (you are sieving it to remove the lemon rind, cinnamon and any bits of egg white that may have been left behind).
Transfer the mixture back into the saucepan and whisk until it becomes thick and creamy.
Transfer to two small ramekins and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.
Once cooled slightly remove from the fridge and put the egg whites on top of the custard - return to the fridge and cool completely.
Once the dessert has cooled down it's time to make the caramel, while you can eat the dessert as it is, the caramel adds a crunchy texture and depth of flavour which really adds to the dessert!
In a small pan add the sugar and the water and over medium heat allow the sugar to melt. Once the sugar has melted leave it for a minute or two until it starts changing colour. Remove from the heat and drizzle the warm brown caramel over the egg whites.
You can serve now or return to the fridge until ready to serve.
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