Crema Fritta

Name: Crema Fritta (Fried Cream)
Yield: Serves 8
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 4 egg whites; Fine dried bread crumbs; Clarified butter or vegetable oil, as needed; Clarified butter or vegetable oil, as needed; Confectioners’ sugar or cinnamon sugar for topping; Confectioners’ sugar or cinnamon sugar for topping; 4 cups milk; Zest of 1 lemon; 1 vanilla bean; ¾ cup granulated sugar; 1¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour; Pinch of salt; 8 egg yolks

Fried Cream

Preparation info

Serves
8

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Cucina Ebraica

By Joyce Goldstein

Published 1998

About

I’ve always thought of this as an old-time San Francisco dessert, but its origins are in the Veneto and Liguria, home of many of the Italians who settled in the city. I’ve played with many versions of the recipe, from a variety of sources, and this one won the family taste test.

Ingredients

4 cups milk
1 vanilla bean
Zest of 1 lemon

Europe
Italy
Dessert
Vegetarian
Mediterranean

Method

Place a marble board or baking pan (about 8 by 10 inches) in the freezer to chill well.

In a saucepan, combine the milk, vanilla bean, and lemon zest and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let steep for 1 hour.