Every year for St. Joseph's Day (Father's Day), I make crema catalana (http://www.mis-recetas.org/recetas/show/11264-crema-catalana-tradicional-autentica), but this year was the first time I didn't make it. Instead, I made a Catalan cream cake, and it turned out delicious, though I almost ruined it with the heat from the kitchen torch, which melted part of the decorations on the back. Even though my own father has been gone for 10 years, my husband is also a dad, so I made this cake for him. I didn't feel like taking out all the oven trays (which I do almost every day), so instead of baking the sponge cake in the oven, I made it in the microwave. I cooked it for 2 1/2 minutes, then added another half minute, but stopped it two seconds early. It turned out a little overdone, but I figured people could just set that part aside. I wasn't going to make another one. Since the cream was warm, it soaked in and made the cake nice and soft—just right and really tasty. So, at least for this cake, I'll keep making it this way, though I'll keep testing the timing. As you'll see in the photos, I used the same microwave tray, lined with parchment paper just like in the oven.

I always use potato starch, which is the best, and there are two very old stores here in Badalona where my mom always bought it. But since I would have had to make a special trip, I bought cornstarch powder at the grocery store instead. In the photos, you'll see the cornstarch labeled in Catalan, and you can see the potato starch in the photos of the crema catalana recipe (http://www.mis-recetas.org/recetas/show/11264-crema-catalana-tradicional-autentica).