Crema Catalana

Method

1. Wash the lemon and peel off a long strip of the yellow skin with a vegetable peeler; avoid the white pith, which is bitter. Set aside 2 to 3 tablespoons of the milk in a small cup for dissolving the cornflour. Put the rest of the milk, the lemon peel and the cinnamon stick in a 16 cm saucepan over medium heat. As soon as small bubbles appear around the edge, turn off the heat, cover and leave to infuse for 10 min. Watch it so the milk doesn't boil over.

   Add in this stepWhole milk 213 mlStrip of lemon peel (yellow part only, about 5 cm) 1Cinnamon stick 1

   medium heat

2. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the custard sugar for 2 min until pale and creamy. Stir the cornflour into the reserved cold milk until there are no lumps, then whisk it into the yolks until smooth.

   Add in this stepEgg yolks 2Caster sugar (for the custard) 45 gCornflour (cornstarch) 11 gWhole milk 38 ml

3. Lift the lemon peel and cinnamon out of the milk. Pour the warm milk onto the yolks a ladleful at a time, whisking constantly; adding it all at once would scramble the yolks. When all the milk is in, pour everything back into the saucepan.

4. Set the pan over medium-low heat and cook for 5 min, stirring nonstop with a spatula and scraping the bottom and corners. The custard thickens gradually; it is ready when one or two big bubbles plop on the surface and a finger drawn through the custard on the spatula leaves a clean line. The cornflour needs that first bubble to set properly. If you see lumps, take the pan off the heat and whisk hard.

   medium-low heat

5. While it is still hot, divide the custard between ×2 shallow dishes (traditionally flat terracotta dishes about 12 cm across) and level the tops. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface so no skin forms, let it cool a little, then refrigerate for at least 4 h until cold and set.

6. Just before serving, blot any moisture off the surface with kitchen paper and sprinkle the topping sugar in a thin, even layer. Melt it with a kitchen torch until deep amber (about 2 min in total), keeping the flame moving so it doesn't taste burnt. Leave for 1 minute to harden like glass, and eat within 30 minutes while it still cracks.

   Add in this stepCaster sugar (for the burnt top) 2 tbsp