Crema catalana cake

I am nuts for custard.  Even as a child, I adored custard.  I know that some people go cold at the thought of custard, considering it slimy, and disliking the mouth feel of it.  On the other hand, I can't get enough of its sweet, smooth silkiness, and I especially love it served warm with just enough cooling time for a skin to form on top.  The skin is mine!  My mother often made custard from custard powder to serve with apple crumble, lemon delicious and Christmas pudding.  Greedy little me adored it - and still does, except that now I have to make it so it doesn't happen often.

Accordingly, when I read about the Crema Catalana Cake on Nadel & Gabel, with cake on the top and custard on the bottom, I was sold.  It sounded like a self-saucing pudding with custard for the sauce.  Delish!

I had a go at making this "magic" cake, and the result was a little flat (was my pan too big?  did I flatten the egg whites?), but still good:

You can see the layers of cake and custard distinctly in the photo at the top of this post.  The recipe uses brown sugar, giving the cake an overall caramel-like taste.  I have never melted brown sugar before, and at first thought it would never melt, then was amazed as it turned into caramel (unlike white sugar, which just melts). 

Don't panic when the caramel hardens as you add the orange juice and milk.  I did, thinking it spelled the end of my new copper pot, but just keep stirring and heating the mixture, and eventually, the hard caramel melts into the liquid.  I used ordinary milk, not almond milk, and it turned out fine.   I also did not caramelise the top of the cake with a kitchen torch, as I don't have one, but the cake was just fine without it, it just didn't have a crunchy top. 

I would definitely make this again, but I would use a smaller pan next time than the 20cm pan recommended in the recipe to boost my custard to cake ratio.