Spanish Custard (Natillas de Leche)

Ingredients:

- 4 cups whole milk
- lemon peel from 1 lemon
- orange peel from 1 orange
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 tbsp (or 1/4 cup) cornstarch
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 6 egg yolks
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- a pinch of salt
- 6 Maria cookies (one to top each serving)
- 1 tsp cinnamon (optional, for sprinkling on top

Preparation:

- Peel the lemon and orange, trying to get just the yellow or orange part of the skin and none of the white pith. You can remove any white bits with a butter knife or a spoon. The white part is what can make the custard bitter, so that’s why we want to remove as much of it as we can.
- To a pot, add 3 cups of milk, the cinnamon stick, the lemon peel, and the orange peel. Set it over medium heat, stirring continuously, until it just about starts to boil (for me, it took about 10 minutes).
Turn the heat off, removing the pot from the heat.
- Remove the lemon peel, orange peel, and cinnamon stick.
- Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites.
- Reserve the egg whites for another recipe like meringue or pavlova. Add the egg yolks to a bowl, and mix them well with a whisk.
- To a mixing cup or medium-sized bowl, add the cornstarch and the remaining 1 cup of cold milk, and mix well with a whisk.
- Add the cornstarch-milk mixture over the beaten egg yolks and mix everything well, again using a whisk.
- Add some of the warm milk (about 1 cup worth) over the egg yolks and milk-cornstarch mixture slowly while whisking constantly. This is called �tempering’ the egg yolks, meaning we’re slowly bringing them up to a higher temperature so that they don’t curdle or scramble when we add them to the hot milk in the pot. It will help create the silky, rich texture we’re looking for in this custard.
- Now add the egg yolk mixture to the warm milk in the pot while mixing constantly. Again, we want to add them in a slow stream while constantly whisking.
- Add the sugar and the salt, and keep whisking.
- Set the pot over medium-low heat, mixing constantly, until thick (about 10-15 minutes). Once thickened, turn the heat off and remove the pot from the heat.
- Add the vanilla bean paste or extract.
Strain the mixture using a fine-mesh sieve to remove any lumps. Ours didn’t have any lumps, so I skipped this step. If you’re cooking for guests and want to make sure you have the perfect texture, I recommend doing this step.
- Pour it into small bowls, ramekins, or serving glasses.
- Add a Maria cookie/Galleta to each on top, and (optionally) sprinkle some cinnamon powder on top.
Cover with cling film/plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours until completely chilled before serving.

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