Crema fritta
Fried custard
Warm, soft vanilla custard encased within a sugary crunchy coating. A delicacy during carnevale time, but so good all year round. Serve with hot chocolate or a fruit coulis for dunking.
SERVES 4-6
(MAKES 16-18 DIAMONDS)
⚫ 500ml milk
⚫ Seeds from 1 vanilla pod or 1tsp vanilla extract
⚫ Zest 1 orange or lemon, peeled into lengths
⚫ 5 egg yolks
⚫ 80g caster sugar
⚫ 75g strong white bread flour, plus extra to coat
⚫ 1 egg, beaten
⚫ 50g fine breadcrumbs
⚫ Sunflower oil, to fry
1 Line an 18cm square baking tin with clingfilm. Put the milk in a pan with the vanilla and zest and heat to just before it boils. Remove from the heat.
2 Mix together the egg yolks, sugar and flour in a large bowl using a wooden spoon. Add the milk a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly until ½ the milk is incorporated. Pour the mixture back into the rest of the milk in the pan. Return to the heat for around 5min to thicken, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and pour the custard into the lined tin, discarding zest. Cover the custard with clingfilm so it is touching the custard (to stop it forming a skin) and cool to room temperature.
3 Remove clingfilm and turn out the set custard onto a work surface. Cut it into around 16-18 diamonds. Put some flour, the beaten egg and breadcrumbs into 3 separate shallow bowls. Heat several inches of sunflower oil in a large, high-sided frying pan until around 175°C or until a small piece of bread sizzles when it hits the oil.
4 Dip the diamonds in the flour, then in egg, then in breadcrumbs to coat them all over. Deep-fry for around 10min or until golden brown, turning halfway through the cooking time. Drain on paper towels and serve straight away.