LA KATALANA [V.KOLLECTION*]

*V.Kollection is a series of verrines I'm going to make the next weeks.

The first one "La Katalana" is a verrine with Crema Catalana flavored with vanilla, a sablé breton, fresh orange supremes in a Grand Marnier syrup, a milk foam caramel and cinnamon flavored.

Makes 4 verrines (24 cl), 

The Sablé Breton :

- 50 gr flour
- 20 gr ground almond
- 70 gr butter (softened)
- 35 gr sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- pinch salt

Cream the sugar with the softened butter, then add the ground almond, combine.

Add the yolk, combine again. Then fold in the flour. Do not overmix the dough.

Spread the dough 1 cm thick over an oven tray covered with baking paper or silicon mat.

Put in preheated oven for about 12 minutes, then allow to cool down 5 minutes and cut discs out of it with a pastry cutter. Reserve.

The Grand Marnier Syrup :
- 50 gr water
- 50 gr orange juice
- 10 to 20 gr sugar (according your taste)
- 10 to 20 gr Grand Marnier (or Cointreau, or Triple Sec)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice

Boil the water with the sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Then add the orange juice.

And finally add the Grand Marnier. Reserve covered in the fridge.

The Crema Catalana :
- 125 milk
- 125 cream
- 2 egg-yolks
- 35 gr sugar
- 10 gr corn starch
- 1/2 tsp vanilla flavor (powder)

You can see here 3 yolks because I finally noticed that it was to much so reduced the ingredients. So beat the yolks with the sugar, then add the corn starch and beat again until completely homogeneous.

Heat up the cream and milk with the vanilla and pour it over the previous mixture. Whip quickly. Put back in the pan and cook until it thickens (2~3 minutes)

Allow to cool down for 30 minutes covered with plastic film directly on the surface of the cream.

The Caramel and Cinnamon Foam :
- 30 gr sugar
- 250 gr whole milk
- 3 gelatin sheet
- pinch of cinnamon (ground)

Hydrate the gelatin in cold water for 5 minutes.
Put the sugar in a small saucepan with a bit of water, then cook until it caramelizes.

Mix the cinnamon in 60 gr of the total milk then pour it over the caramel still hot (mind the projections). Give it a boil until the caramel is totaly dissolved.

Add the rest of the milk (cold).

Sift this mixture and pour it in a whipping siphon, then charge it with 2 cartridges of gas. Shake it for about 5 seconds and reserve  lied down in the fridge  for 2 hours. 

The Assembly :

Peel an orange and take off the supremes...

Place 2 or 3 orange supremes in each verrine...

Then cover the supremes with the Grand Marnier Syrup. Place a sablé breton in the verrine (better if it gets stuck in the middle of the verrine so it doesn't touch the syrup). Then pour some crema catalana (at room temperature). Put in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Just before the service, sprinkle the top with brown sugar...

...and caramelize it with the help of a blow torch. The layer of caramel must be crunchy !!!

Take the whipping siphon out of the fridge and aplly some caramel and cinnamon foam over the crema catalana, sprinkle with some ground cinnamon if you feel it, then serve right away !