Name: Sweet Basque Cream (Natillas)
Yield: Makes 5 to 6 cups; serves 6
Ingredients: 1 quart heavy cream; 2 cinnamon sticks; 6 large eggs; 3/4 cup sugar; 1 tablespoon vanilla extract; ground cinnamon

At the restaurant Marichu, we offer this sweet, liquid custard as a dessert in itself, served in small custard cups. But natillas is also used in countless Basque recipes as a sauce. Although we in the Basque Country claim this sauce as our own, the French make a similar sauce and call it crème anglaise — thereby crediting the English as its inventors.

[This is an ingredient in the recipe for Almond Tart.]

Recipe notes

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