Cacciatello

Ingredients

The caramel

• 150 gcaster sugar
• 3 tablespoonswater

The custard

• 1 litrewhole milk
• 6eggs
• plus 2 extra yolks
• 150 gcaster sugar
• 1 teaspoonvanilla extract
• or a vanilla pod, split
• the zest of 1 lemon
• pared in strips
• a pinch of salt

Sometimes added

• a splash of rum or mistrà
• the anise liqueur
• a little ground cinnamon

Equipment

• a large baking dish or tin
• a deep roasting tin
• for the water bath
• a fine sieve

Directions

1. Keep children away from the pan. If it touches skin, run cold water over it at once. Keep it there for twenty minutes. Put the sugar and water in a heavy pan. Stir once to wet the sugar and then stop. Do not stir it again while it cooks.
2. Swirl the pan gently instead if needed. Brush the sides of the pan with wet pastry brush. Boil it without stirring. It turns pale, then golden, then amber. Pour it straight into the baking dish. Work quickly, since it sets fast. The dish becomes extremely hot immediately. Hold it with a cloth, not bare hands. Set it aside to cool and harden. Put the milk in a pan.
3. Add the lemon zest strips and the vanilla. Heat it until it steams but does not boil. Take it off and let it infuse twenty minutes. Take only the yellow and none of the white pith. Whisk the eggs, extra yolks and sugar together.
4. Whisk just until combined. Do not whisk air into the mixture. Strain the infused milk to remove the zest. Pour it slowly into the eggs while whisking. Hot milk poured in fast scrambles the eggs. Pour it through a fine sieve into a jug. Skim off any foam from the surface.
5. Let it stand five minutes and skim again. Put the caramel-lined dish in a deep roasting tin. Pour the custard over the set caramel. Now pour hot water into the outer tin. Fill it halfway up the sides of the dish.
6. Put the roasting tin in the oven before adding water. Then pour the hot water in with a jug. Bake at one hundred and fifty degrees. Give it about fifty minutes to an hour. Lift the dish out of the water bath. Let it cool to room temperature. Then refrigerate it for at least six hours.
7. Put a lipped serving dish over the top. The dish must have a rim to hold the syrup. Lift the baking dish away. Set the base in hot water for twenty seconds. That loosens the caramel enough. Serve it cold, in slices or spoonfuls. Spoon extra caramel syrup over each portion. It needs nothing else at all. Keep it covered so it does not take on other smells.

Technique

• The atlas holds no history line for this dish and published information is thin, so it records the dish and its country and stops there rather than inventing an origin. San Marino’s cooking is essentially that of surrounding Romagna, and this sits in a wide European tradition of baked custard over caramel alongside crème caramel, flan and pudim.
• Take it out of the oven while the centre still wobbles as one piece. The edges should be set and the middle should not be liquid or firm — it finishes setting as it cools. Overbaked custard weeps and turns grainy, and neither is correctable.
• The water bath is not optional. Water cannot exceed 100 degrees, so it insulates the custard and lets it set evenly; without it the edges curdle before the centre sets, which is the commonest failure here.
• Put the roasting tin in the oven first and pour the hot water in with a jug. Carrying a tin of hot water across a kitchen is how people get burnt.
• Molten sugar reaches around 170 degrees, sticks to skin and keeps burning. Never touch or taste it hot, keep children away, and if it touches skin run cold water over it for twenty minutes.
• Do not stir the caramel once the sugar is wet. Stirring crystallises it; swirl the pan instead, and brush the pan sides with a wet pastry brush to wash stray crystals back in, since those are what seed a grainy caramel.
• Aim for medium amber, the colour of dark honey. Pale caramel tastes only of sugar and dark caramel turns bitter against a mild custard.
• Whisk the eggs and sugar gently and briefly. Air whisked in sets into holes and makes the custard spongy rather than silky; skim any foam off before baking.
• Pour the hot milk into the eggs slowly while whisking. Added fast it scrambles them — that gradual tempering is the standard rule for any custard.
• Strain the mixture through a fine sieve. It catches set egg and the white cords attached to the yolks, and the texture is noticeably better for it.
• Chill for at least six hours and preferably overnight. The custard firms and the hard caramel dissolves into the syrup that runs over it when turned out — a short chill gives less syrup and a softer set.
• Turn it out onto a dish with a rim, or the caramel syrup runs off the plate. If it sticks, sit the base in hot water for twenty seconds and try again.

Substitutions

• A vanilla pod replaces extract and is noticeably better; split it and infuse it in the milk.
• Orange zest replaces lemon for a different aromatic.
• A splash of rum or mistrà, the local anise liqueur, is added in some households.
• Single cream replacing some of the milk gives a richer, denser custard.
• Individual ramekins replace one large dish; reduce the baking time to about 35 minutes.
• The extra yolks can be left out for a lighter set.

Variations

• Crème caramel in France is the same construction with a lighter custard.
• Flan in Spain and Latin America often uses condensed milk for a denser result.
• Pudim flan in Portugal is richer still and frequently made with many yolks.
• Bonet, from Piedmont, adds cocoa and amaretti to the same idea.
• Latte alla portoghese is the northern Italian name for a very similar dessert.
• A version flavoured with coffee is made in parts of Italy.

Frequently asked questions

What is Cacciatello?

Cacciatello is a dessert from San Marino: milk-and-egg caramel custard, rustic crème caramel.

How long does Cacciatello take to make?

Cacciatello takes 20 minutes of preparation and 1 hour of cooking. The recipe makes serves 8. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Cacciatello?

Yes, within limits. A vanilla pod replaces extract and is noticeably better; split it and infuse it in the milk. Orange zest replaces lemon for a different aromatic. A splash of rum or mistrà, the local anise liqueur, is added in some households. Single cream replacing some of the milk gives a richer, denser custard. Individual ramekins replace one large dish; reduce the baking time to about 35 minutes. The extra yolks can be left out for a lighter set.

What is the most important thing to get right in Cacciatello?

Keep children away from the pan. If it touches skin, run cold water over it at once. Keep it there for twenty minutes. Put the sugar and water in a heavy pan. Stir once to wet the sugar and then stop. Do not stir it again while it cooks.