Crema Fritta

We all love dessert and if you happen to know someone who doesn’t, feel free to introduce them to me so that I can sit them down and tell them what they are missing.  For as long as I can remember my mother has always been an amazing baker. When it comes to cakes that woman knows what she is doing. One of my childhood favorites is something that she calls "alcoholic".  An alcoholic is a rich dark chocolate cake filled with jam in the center and topped with chocolate frosting that consists of sour cream, cocoa, sugar and brandy.  My mouth is watering at the moment and I want that cake!!

I love cooking and I know what my strengths are and making dessert isn’t one of them. I took home -economics in high school and remember my first baking assignment. I had to bake cream puffs and long story short, the cream had no place to go because the puffs wouldn’t rise. I ended up serving the cream next to my flat puffs…the reaction on my teachers face was priceless. When it comes to baking, the experience is always interesting but the outcome usually ends up disastrous. My unfortunate baking is a continuous circle.

I am simply not meant to bake but that didn’t stop me from trying one more time. I love to challenge myself or try to do it as often as I can and here I am, writing about my baking journey.  In the latest Jamie Oliver magazine they have pages of Italian desserts and having lived in Italy I know how delightful they are. I decided to try making Crema Fritta which is simply deep-fried custard.

To make the custard, you need to boil 500ml of milk. Into the milk you need to place one vanilla pod (yesterday afternoon I quickly popped into a store and bought a vanilla pod. I realized two things; the first is that I wasn’t aware of how expensive a vanilla pod would be and the second is that I’m not sure if it is reusable. Is it reusable?) and one rind of either a lemon or an orange.  Why do cookbooks/magazines use fancy words…a rind really, why not just use the word skin?

While I was waiting for the milk to boil, I moved onto the next step. In a bowl I added 500g of sugar, three egg yolks and 50 grams of cornflower and mixed it together with a wooden spoon. As the milk started boiling, I removed the vanilla pod and rind and slowly added half of the milk into my egg/sugar mixture stirring constantly. I then poured the custard into the pot with the remaining milk, returned it to the stove to cook for a few more minutes. While I was stirring and waiting for the custard to thicken (which took a while, or so it seemed) I gave myself a little speech, you can do this, you can do this. As the custard was thickening I felt so proud of myself. I was actually making custard from scratch and I was kicking-ass, in a good way mind you.

After the custard was made, I poured the mixture onto a baking sheet that I had covered with clingfilm beforehand and then covered the surface with more clingfilm. After it cooled for a while I put it in the fridge for a few hours. Just before taking it out, I took a pot filled it with oil, whisked three eggs whites together and took out some breadcrumbs. Dipped the custard squares in the egg whites, breadcrumbs and fried until golden brown.

These little treats are out-of-this world, crispy on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside. I now honestly understand why people fry dessert. If you love custard then this recipe is a must. I am looking at the plate trying to restrain myself from eating them all in one go. A few hours have passed since I stared writing this post and I'm happy to report that there are no more crema fritta's left. My roommates and I enjoyed the last few outside on our little terrace, surrounded by music, stars and candels.  A fabulous recipe for a fabulous evening.