Recipe
Rožata
Dubrovnik's proud caramel custard: a silky egg-and-milk cream perfumed with rose liqueur and lemon zest, baked gently in a water bath over amber caramel, chilled overnight and flipped with confidence. Patience is the main ingredient - the rest is eggs and nerve.
Rožata takes about 85 minutes and makes 6 servings. Each serving has 270 kcal.
- Preparation
- 30 minutes
- Cooking
- 55 minutes
- Total time
- 85 minutes
- Servings
- 6
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 270 kcal
- Protein
- 8 g
- Carbohydrates
- 39 g
- Fat
- 8 g
Ingredients
- Sugar200 g
- Milk500 ml
- Eggs4 pcs
- Egg yolks2 pcs
- Rose liqueur or rum2 tbsp
- Lemon1 pc
- Vanilla sugar10 g
Instructions
- 1
Melt 100 g of the sugar in a wide, light-colored pan over medium heat until it turns a deep amber caramel.
Tip: Never stir caramel - crystals form and it seizes into lumps. Swirl the pan gently instead, and pull it off the heat the moment it smells toasty.
- 2
Immediately divide the caramel among 6 ramekins, tilting each one to coat the bottom. Let it harden.
- 3
Gently whisk the eggs, yolks and remaining sugar until just combined - do not beat in foam.
Tip: Foam bakes into holes. Stir like you are stirring tea, not making meringue.
- 4
Warm the milk until it steams - do not let it boil - then pour it into the eggs in a thin stream, whisking slowly.
- 5
Stir in the rose liqueur, lemon zest and vanilla sugar, then strain the custard through a fine sieve.
- 6
Pour the custard over the hardened caramel. Set the ramekins in a deep baking dish and pour in hot water halfway up their sides.
- 7
Bake at 150 °C until the custards are set but still wobble slightly in the center.
- 8
Cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge overnight.
- 9
Run a thin knife around each edge, place a plate on top and flip in one confident motion. The caramel flows over the top - exactly as it should.
Cooking methods
On the stove
The stove's only jobs are the caramel and warming the milk. Use medium heat and a light-colored pan so you can judge the color: amber is right, mahogany is bitter. The custard itself bakes at 150 °C in a water bath - low and slow, no shortcuts.
On induction
Make the caramel at level 6 - induction heats evenly, but the sugar still races at the end, so stay with the pan. Warm the milk at level 4 until it steams. The rest happens in the oven at 150 °C in a water bath.
Over an open fire
Rožata is not a campfire dish - a water bath needs steady, gentle oven heat that embers cannot reliably give. If you are determined, a Dutch oven with few coals below and the water bath inside can work, watched closely. The caramel is easier: a small pan over calm embers, swirled, never stirred.
Recipe questions
- How long does this recipe take?
- Plan for about 85 minutes from start to finish.
- How many servings does this recipe make?
- This recipe makes 6 servings.
- Can I cook this recipe on induction?
- Yes. Make the caramel at level 6 - induction heats evenly, but the sugar still races at the end, so stay with the pan. Warm the milk at level 4 until it steams. The rest happens in the oven at 150 °C in a water bath.
- Can I cook this recipe over an open fire?
- Yes. Rožata is not a campfire dish - a water bath needs steady, gentle oven heat that embers cannot reliably give. If you are determined, a Dutch oven with few coals below and the water bath inside can work, watched closely. The caramel is easier: a small pan over calm embers, swirled, never stirred.
- Which dietary preferences does this recipe support?
- This recipe is tagged: vegetarian, glutenFree.
In the app
Cooking the way it should feel
One step on screen, a timer that keeps going, and clear progress until the dish is done.
