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Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Jericalla del Hospicio Cabañas
Created by
Jalisco's conventual custard from Guadalajara, baked in small clay cups until barely set, then scorched on top the way the kitchens of Hospicio Cabañas taught it.
Desserts
Mexican
Comfort Food
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
20 min
Active Time
55 min cook•1 hr 15 min total
Yield8 small custards
Jalisco gives us jericalla from Guadalajara, and more specifically from the institutional kitchens of Hospicio Cabañas. This is not flan with bad manners. It has no caramel base. It is milk, huevo, yemas de huevo, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla baked gently in a water bath until the custard trembles, then browned hard on the surface.
The burnt top is the signature. Not a decoration. The milk takes the cinnamon first, slowly, so the aroma enters the custard before the eggs ever touch it. Then you temper the huevos and yemas de huevo with patience. Pour hot milk too fast and you make sweet scrambled eggs. No me vengas con atajos.
I have eaten jericallas in Guadalajara served in little barro or glass cups, cold from the refrigerator, the top dark and freckled, the inside pale and soft. A señora near Mercado San Juan de Dios told me the top should look almost too dark. She was right. That bitterness is what keeps the custard from becoming childish. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
Jericalla is associated with Guadalajara's Hospicio Cabañas, the charitable institution founded by Bishop Juan Cruz Ruiz de Cabañas y Crespo in the early 19th century to house orphans, the elderly, and the sick. The usual origin story places the dessert in the hospicio's kitchens, where nuns prepared a nourishing milk-and-egg custard for children and the browned top became the dish's identifying mark. The name is debated: some link it to Jérica in Spain, others to a religious cook named Jerónima, but in Jalisco the institutional lineage of Hospicio Cabañas is what gives the dessert its authority.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
whole milk
Quantity
4 cups
Mexican cinnamon stick (canela)
Quantity
1
granulated sugar
Quantity
3/4 cup
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
Mexican vanilla extract
Quantity
1 tablespoon
large whole eggs
Quantity
5
yemas de huevo
Quantity
2
hot water
Quantity
as needed
for the water bath
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| whole milk | 4 cups |
| Mexican cinnamon stick (canela) | 1 |
| granulated sugar | 3/4 cup |
| fine sea salt | 1/4 teaspoon |
| Mexican vanilla extract | 1 tablespoon |
| large whole eggs | 5 |
| yemas de huevo | 2 |
| hot waterfor the water bath | as needed |
Equipment Needed
- •8 small barro, ceramic, or glass custard cups
- •Deep roasting pan for the water bath
- •Fine-mesh strainer
- •Medium saucepan
- •Whisk
Instructions
- 1
Infuse the milk
Combine the whole milk, canela, sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Set it over medium-low heat and warm it slowly, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Let the milk reach a bare simmer, then lower the heat and cook for 10 minutes. The cinnamon should perfume the milk without boiling it hard. Boiled milk tastes tired.
- 2
Rest the canela
Remove the pan from the heat and let the cinnamon sit in the hot milk for 10 more minutes. Pull out the canela and stir in the Mexican vanilla. This is where the aroma is built. Cinnamon thrown in at the end is decoration. Cinnamon infused into milk is technique.
- 3
Prepare the cups
Heat the oven to 325F. Set eight small barro, ceramic, or glass custard cups in a deep roasting pan. Bring a kettle of water to a boil, then let it sit off the heat while you mix the custard. The water bath protects the eggs from harsh heat, and that is why the inside stays soft.
- 4
Beat the eggs
In a large bowl, whisk the whole eggs and yemas de huevo just until smooth. Do not whip air into them. Air makes bubbles, bubbles make a rough custard, and a rough jericalla tells on the cook.
- 5
Temper the custard
Pour one ladle of warm milk into the eggs while whisking constantly. Add another ladle, then another. Once the bowl feels warm, slowly whisk in the remaining milk. This is tempering. You are teaching the eggs to accept heat without curdling. Así se hace y punto.
If the milk is still very hot, wait five minutes before tempering. Patience costs nothing. Scrambled custard costs the whole batch. - 6
Strain and fill
Strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a pitcher. Fill the cups almost to the top, leaving about 1/4 inch of space. Straining removes the chalazae and any cooked bits of egg. A good jericalla should be clean under the spoon.
- 7
Bake gently
Pour hot water into the roasting pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cups. Transfer carefully to the oven and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. The edges should be set and the center should still wobble softly when you nudge the pan. Do not bake until firm. The custard continues to set as it cools.
- 8
Scorch the top
Remove the cups from the water bath and set them on a baking sheet. Turn the broiler to high. Broil the jericallas 2 to 4 minutes, watching without walking away, until the tops blister into dark brown patches. Almost black in spots is correct. Burned sugar and milk give the dessert its backbone.
- 9
Cool and serve
Let the jericallas cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then refrigerate at least 3 hours. Serve cold in the same cups they baked in. The spoon should break the dark top and slide into a pale custard underneath. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.
Chef Tips
- •Use whole milk. Not low-fat milk. This dessert was made to nourish children in an institution, and the milk is the body of the custard.
- •Mexican canela is softer and more fragrant than hard cassia cinnamon. At a Mexican market, ask for canela en rama. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado.
- •Jericalla is not flan. Do not add caramel to the bottom. Do not unmold it. It is served in its cup with the burnt top showing.
- •The broiler step demands attention. The line between properly scorched and ruined is short. Stand there and watch it.
Advance Preparation
- •Jericallas need at least 3 hours to chill after baking. Overnight is better because the cinnamon settles into the custard.
- •They keep refrigerated for 3 days, loosely covered after fully chilled. Do not cover them while warm or condensation will soften the burnt top.
- •Do not freeze jericalla. The custard breaks and turns watery.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 165g)
Calories
210 calories
Total Fat
8 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
4 g
Cholesterol
175 mg
Sodium
165 mg
Total Carbohydrates
25 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
25 g
Protein
9 g
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