The other day, Yasuhisa Awakura, a friend of my husband who runs the vinyl factory "(Co., Ltd.) Awakura Vinyl" in Iwata, told me about the animals that his family keeps at their home.Hoshino Black, a premium brand of chicken.I received some freshly laid eggs, and was told, "They have a higher yolk ratio than regular eggs, so they make an amazing pudding!" So, I decided to try making a crema catalana-style pudding cake at home. All you need are 4 eggs!
First, lightly grease an 18cm round mold with butter. Then, we begin with the caramel, the highlight of pudding. Dissolve 60g of sugar in 60ml of water in a small saucepan and heat it. Let it boil and thicken, and it will turn a yellowish color, so keep an eye on it to prevent it from burning. Once it turns caramel-colored, remove it from the heat and pour it into the mold before it hardens. (Note: Leave the saucepan aside as you will use it later.) Next, to make the egg mixture, crack one whole egg and two egg yolks into a separate bowl, add 50g of sugar, and mix with a whisk.
After mixing the eggs and sugar, add 100ml of milk and 200ml of heavy cream to the small saucepan used to make the caramel. Add the contents of half a vanilla bean, including the skin, and heat gently without boiling. The reason for heating it in the same saucepan used to make the caramel is that the caramel aroma infuses into the milk, improving the flavor, and it also removes the stickiness of the caramel, making it a win-win method.
Cover the warmed milk and heavy cream and let it steam for 5-10 minutes, then gradually pour it into the egg mixture and mix. Strain the mixture and pour it into the mold. At this point, preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
Now we'll make the sponge cake base. In a separate bowl, crack one egg and add 25g of sugar, then place the bowl over a bain-marie and whisk. Once the batter is lukewarm, remove it from the bain-marie and mix with an electric hand mixer on the fastest setting until it becomes pale and thick. Gradually reduce the speed and mix until the batter is well combined. Sift in 25g of flour and mix. (Note: Do not discard the water used for the bain-marie, as it will be used in the oven later.)
Mix gently with a rubber spatula, then add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and mix thoroughly before it's completely combined. Gently pour the mixture into the mold; don't worry, the batter will float. Place the mold on a baking sheet, pour the hot water used for the water bath into the baking sheet until it's about one-third full, and bake at 170 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. (Note: Baking times may vary slightly depending on your oven, so check and adjust as needed.)
Insert a bamboo skewer into the baked cake; if no gooey batter sticks to it, it's done. However, it's still undercooked, so cover it with plastic wrap or something similar in the mold and let it cool down. Once it has cooled down, leave it in the mold in the freezer (note: not the refrigerator). It will take some time to harden, so in the meantime, use the remaining egg whites from two eggs to make another baked good.
When making pudding cake, you'll have leftover egg whites from two eggs. Add 100g of sugar to the egg whites in about three batches, mixing well each time. Using an electric hand mixer, whisk on high speed until stiff peaks form and the mixture is thick enough that it won't spill even if you turn the bowl upside down. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag, place a sheet of kitchen paper on a baking sheet, and pipe out circles about the size of a 10-yen coin. Bake in a 100°C oven for 60 minutes, and your meringue candy is complete!
These bite-sized meringue candies are crispy on the outside and have a caramel-like texture when you bite into them, making them a delicious accompaniment to coffee!
Around the time the meringue is ready, the crema catalana-style pudding cake will also be finished. Take it out of the freezer and make cuts around the edge of the mold with a knife. Place a larger dish on top of the mold, flip it over, and warm the bottom slightly with your hands, and it will drop in with surprising ease. This is the most fun part (lol). The fragrant caramel melts and blends into the batter, and the inside becomes a rich and smooth pudding, resulting in an exquisite pudding cake unlike anything you've ever tasted. Now, simply cut it as you like and enjoy decorating it with whipped cream and fruit♪
Homemade Crema Catalana-style pudding cake
Ingredients for Crema Catalana-style pudding cake
■ Caramel (60cc water, 60g sugar)
■Pudding base (1 whole egg, 2 egg yolks, 50g sugar, 100ml milk, 200ml heavy cream, 1/2 vanilla bean)
■ Sponge cake batter (1 whole egg, 25g flour, 25g sugar, 1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil)
■Appropriate amount of butter to grease the mold
Ingredients for meringue confectionery
■Meringue (made from 2 leftover egg whites from making pudding, 100g sugar)
