It’s magic – Crema catalana cake

You`ve probably alread heard of this magic custard cake that is spreading throughout the internet. It’s magic because in the oven the batter forms different layers and you’ll end up with a soft custard bottom and a fluffy top.

For my cake, I used this recipe as a starting point to uplift to new spheres of cake heaven.

The other inspiration for this recipe came…

1. from my current enthusiasm for orange zest and the oranges lingering in my fruit basket.

2. from the amazing spanish dessert called crema catalana (see f.ex. this recipe by Jamie Oliver).

But instead of only caramelizing the top of the cake I went a step further: Thanks to caramelizing the sugar before adding it to the batter, the cake is now caramel heaven! (Note: I came only haf way caramelizing the top of the cake – the gas of my kitchen torch was over 😦 . So: Imagine there is also a crackling caramelized top…)

I skipped cow milk for almond milk. Thinking about orange immediately made me think about almonds, too – perfect match.

What came out is pure flavourful sweet deliciousness – ranging somewhere between custard and sponge cake. From now on this will be the norm!

Magic crema catalana cake (Ø 20 cm baking pan, volume ½ l)

ingredients
35 g butter (if you skip the butter for margarine, it’s dairy free), 60 g flour, 2 eggs (room temperature), 2 drops white wine vinegar, juice (ca. 60 ml) and zest of 1 orange, zest of ¼ lemon, 180 ml almond milk [240 ml liquid altogether], 60 g brown sugar (+ 1 heaped tablespoon), ½ teaspoon cinnamon, dash of vanilla seeds

preparation
Grease baking pan. In a small pot melt butter. Set aside. Caramelize sugar in a small pot. Carefully add orange juice and almond milk. Completely solve caramel over medium heat. Put off heat, add cinnamon, vanilla, orange and lemon zest. Set aside and let cool down to room temperature. Preheat oven to 160°C. Seperate eggs. Beat the egg yolks and mix in the melted butter. Mix in the flour until evenly incorporated. Slowly mix in the milk mixture. Whip egg whites and vinegar until stiff. Carefully fold in beaten egg whites working in two or three batches. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes. Let cake completely cool before serving.

Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar and caramelize top with kitchen torch. EAT!