![\"Crema](\"https:\/\/ezb966kqson.exactdn.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/sweetlore-photos-20261028\/98903fadd09e85082199e965ef49e3daf66c95d3a55d0bb2c1f8ac6bffe99e0f.jpg?strip=all&quality=90&webp=92&avif=55&w=1920\")
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Caramelizing the sugar with a hot iron just before eating<\/h2>\n
The sugar on the surface is caramelized just before serving. The traditional tool, called a pala de cremar or ferro de cremar, is a round iron plate with a long, narrow handle. The grip is made of wood, and the iron plate is heated in a fire until red-hot, then pressed onto the sugared surface.<\/p>\n
By separating the heat used to cook the cream in the pan from the heat used to caramelize the sugar at the end, a thin layer of caramelized sugar forms on top of the cold cream. The finished surface cracks crisply, and the aroma of the caramelized sugar sharpens the sweetness of the milk and eggs. Because the sugar takes up moisture from the cream beneath it if left for long, the cream can be prepared ahead, but the surface is finished to match the time it will be eaten.<\/p>\n
Milk and egg dishes, and records of creams with caramelized tops<\/h2>\n
Milk and egg dishes in the 14th-century Llibre de Sent Sov\u00ed and the 16th-century Llibre del Coch are cited as precursors. However, they are not identical to the present form, in which sugar is caramelized on top of a cold dish. The diary of Rafael d\u2019Amat, Baron of Mald\u00e0, from the late 18th to the early 19th century, frequently mentions \u201cSaint Joseph\u2019s cream.\u201d For the celebration on March 19, there is also a traditional version that is not caramelized but is instead decorated with letters drawn in chocolate or meringue.<\/p>\n
The \u201croasted milk\u201d in the 1758 edition of Juan Altamiras\u2019s Nuevo arte de cocina (New Art of Cooking) is a dish in which milk, sugar and beaten eggs are heated from above and below. Although its ingredients resemble today\u2019s, it is baked so that the whole dish sets, which differs from the version that is cooked in a pan, cooled and caramelized only on the surface.<\/p>\n
Joan Baptista Pany\u00f3\u2019s cookbook of 1784 contains a \u201cfrangipane-style cream\u201d that is closer to the present form. Wheat flour, eggs, milk and sugar are combined with lemon peel, orange flower water and cinnamon, cooked in a pan while being stirred constantly, and, once cooled, finished with sugar and a hot spatula. Unlike today\u2019s frangipane, this formulation does not use almonds. A sweet\u2019s name and its combination of ingredients do not necessarily stay the same over time.<\/p>\n
In \u201cTo make cream\u201d in the 1851 edition of La Cuynera Catalana, egg yolks, starch or rice flour, sugar, lemon peel and a thin piece of cinnamon are combined with milk and stirred with a wooden spoon until thickened. The flavorings are removed, the cream is spread on a flat plate to cool, sprinkled with white sugar, and caramelized with a hot iron spatula or lid. This recipe gives a concrete record of the method of separating the heating in the pan from the heating of the surface. The same book also describes another method in which the cream is cut before caramelizing, coated in flour and fried in lard.<\/p>\n
The naming legend of a bishop who cried \u201cIt burns\u201d<\/h2>\n
According to one story, a nun who failed to make a flan properly for a visiting bishop served it topped with hot caramelized sugar; the bishop burned his mouth and cried, \u201cCrema, crema!\u201d It is a naming legend that plays on the word for \u201ccream\u201d and the word for \u201cit burns.\u201d Who made it and when is uncertain, but the story also portrays the sweet\u2019s characteristic layer of hot caramelized sugar over a cold cream.<\/p>\n Because of the custom of eating it on March 19, Sant Josep (Saint Joseph\u2019s Day), it is also called crema de Sant Josep. Today it is enjoyed throughout the year, but its name preserves its connection with the table at spring celebrations.<\/p>\n What it shares with French cr\u00e8me br\u00fbl\u00e9e is the layer of caramelized sugar covering a cream. Cr\u00e8me br\u00fbl\u00e9e as commonly seen today is made with heavy cream and vanilla and baked in its dish in a water bath, whereas the typical method for crema catalana is to infuse milk with lemon and cinnamon, cook it in a pan and then transfer it to dishes. The dairy used, the flavorings and the thickening process give each its own character.<\/p>\n However, this difference cannot be used to sort older cream recipes. The cr\u00e8me br\u00fbl\u00e9e in the 1771 edition of Fran\u00e7ois Massialot\u2019s cookbook is also made by mixing and cooking egg yolks, milk, wheat flour, cinnamon and citrus peel in a pan, then caramelizing the sugar with a hot spatula. The differences in formulation and cooking method commonly seen today cannot simply be taken as a long-standing dividing line, or as evidence that one is the origin of the other.<\/p>\n Crema is not only a sweet served in a dish; it is also an ingredient for building other sweets. The Catalan pastry shop Ambl\u00e0s offers the Massini, which combines whipped cream with caramelized crema, and a \u201cthree flavors\u201d cake that also adds a chocolate cream. To the two layers of sugar and cream found when it is served in a dish, cake layers or another cream are added, so that different textures can be enjoyed in a single slice.<\/p>\n Coca de Llavaneres is a sweet in which cream is enclosed between two sheets of pastry and the top is covered with almond paste and sliced almonds. The dairy producer Llet Nostra presents a recipe that uses its own crema catalana inside, for the Sant Joan celebrations in June. Because the cream is wrapped in pastry and baked, the crisp, flaky texture of the pastry is added on the outside.<\/p>\n Frozen desserts also include versions in which a milk and egg cream is frozen and the sugar on top is caramelized by hand. For example, Gelats Glas\u2019s single-serving crema catalana has caramelized sugar placed on top of ice cream. Even though the cream is frozen, the cold interior is paired with a layer of caramelized sugar that cracks crisply.<\/p>\n Fran\u00e7ois Massialot<\/strong>: A French cookbook author. The 1771 edition of his book includes a cr\u00e8me br\u00fbl\u00e9e in which the surface of a pan-cooked cream is caramelized with a hot spatula.<\/p> Starch<\/strong>: An ingredient that holds water and turns paste-like when heated, giving thickness. Cornstarch is also used in current recipes.<\/p> Pala de cremar<\/strong>: A tool with a round iron plate and a long handle, used to caramelize the sugar on the cream. Also called a ferro de cremar.<\/p> Sant Josep<\/strong>: Saint Joseph. Associated with the celebration on March 19 and with the name of the cream eaten on that day.<\/p> Baron of Mald\u00e0<\/strong>: Rafael d\u2019Amat i de Cortada. Saint Joseph\u2019s cream appears in his diary, which records life in Barcelona.<\/p> Coca de Llavaneres<\/strong>: A sweet associated with Llavaneres in Catalonia. Some versions enclose cream in pastry and are topped with almond paste or sliced almonds.<\/p> Sant Joan<\/strong>: The feast of Saint John. There is a custom of gathering around a coca on the eve of the feast in June.<\/p> Water-bath baking<\/strong>: A baking method in which the mold is placed in a container of hot water so that the oven\u2019s heat reaches it gently.<\/p> Juan Altamiras<\/strong>: An 18th-century Spanish friar and cookbook author. He wrote down milk and egg dishes such as \u201croasted milk.\u201d<\/p> Joan Baptista Pany\u00f3<\/strong>: An 18th-century cookbook author. His 1784 book contains a formulation in which a cooled cream is finished with sugar and a hot spatula.<\/p> Frangipane<\/strong>: Known today as the name of a cream made with almonds. Pany\u00f3\u2019s formulation of the same name contains no almonds, so the modern definition cannot simply be applied to it.<\/p> Historical supplement: The parent re-read the 1771 edition of Massialot, vol. 1, p. 273, as quoted on printed page 17 (PDF page 15) of the Manzanares Mileo paper above. This was confirmed through the paper\u2019s quotation of the original text; it is neither a direct, complete reading of the 1771 original itself nor a determination of the year of first appearance.<\/p>\n<\/li> Marta Manzanares Mileo, \u201cEl calendari pastisser catal\u00e0: continu\u00eftats i canvis,\u201d TECA 15 (2015), pp.16\u201317<\/a> \u2014 The author\u2019s comparison of, and quotations from, the original cookbooks were checked: the roasted milk on p.128 of Altamiras\u2019s 1758 edition and the frangipane-style cream in Pany\u00f3\u2019s 1784 book. The original books themselves were not read directly this time.<\/p>\n<\/li> Research note: English Wikipedia\u2019s claims that the name first appeared in 1745 and that caramelizing first appeared in 1770 are on hold, because the relevant passages in the modern books it cites could not be checked. 1851 is not presented as the year of invention or as the oldest record. Details are in the research ledger for this work.<\/p>\n<\/li> CUINA \/ Pep Nogu\u00e9, \u201cLa cl\u00e0ssica crema catalana\u201d<\/a>: Milk, egg yolks and cornstarch; lemon and cinnamon; the cooking and straining process; earthenware dishes and the caramelizing iron.<\/p>\n<\/li> TERMCAT, \u201cAmb qu\u00e8 cremem la crema?\u201d<\/a>: The names and construction of the traditional tools; household customs for Saint Joseph\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n<\/li> CUINA \/ Pol Leiva, \u201cL’origen de la crema cremada\u201d<\/a>: The explanation that medieval milk dishes were precursors, the baron\u2019s diary, the uncaramelized decoration described in an interview with a culinary historian, the convent legend, and today\u2019s year-round eating.<\/p>\n<\/li> La Cuynera Catalana, 1851 edition, book 3, pp.84\u201385 (PDF pp.267\u2013268)<\/a> \u2014 Egg yolks, starch\/rice flour and milk; lemon and cinnamon; cooling on a flat plate and caramelizing with a hot iron; the alternative fried version.<\/p>\n<\/li> Pastisseria Ambl\u00e0s, \u201cCalendario\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The Massini and the three-flavor cake, which use caramelized crema. These are this shop\u2019s items, not a formulation shared by all shops.<\/p>\n<\/li>![\"Crema](\"https:\/\/ezb966kqson.exactdn.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/sweetlore-photos-20261028\/a185b00597bbb2705b16276b88ac96d05a8c225dc9b316d9e4739a97c70277fc.jpg?strip=all&quality=90&webp=92&avif=55&w=1920\")
\nThe Saint Joseph\u2019s Day custom and how it differs from cr\u00e8me br\u00fbl\u00e9e<\/h2>\n
![\"Crema](\"https:\/\/ezb966kqson.exactdn.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/sweetlore-photos-20261028\/199a20be2de4287359909a904b7b1dd46ef3fb4128a555c5565d8db839028ddc.jpg?strip=all&quality=90&webp=92&avif=55&w=1920\")
\nIn cake fillings and frozen desserts, too<\/h2>\n
Glossary<\/h2>\n
References<\/h2>\n
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