Torrijas
Spanish Easter fried bread soaked in cinnamon-lemon milk and rolled in sugar
Torrijas are the Easter sweet of Spain, eaten all over the country during Semana Santa and especially in Madrid and Andalusia, where bakeries pile them in their windows. Thick slices of day-old bread are soaked in milk infused with cinnamon and lemon peel, dipped in beaten egg, fried in olive oil and rolled in cinnamon sugar. They were born as a way to use up stale bread during Lent, and they are crisp outside and soft and custardy inside, like a richer, crunchier French toast. Eat them warm or cold, the next day they are even more set and sweet. Chef's tip: use a dense day-old loaf (a Spanish 'pan de torrijas' or a firm baguette) cut 2–3 cm thick, and soak just until saturated; fresh, airy bread falls apart and fries greasy.
- Total time
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the soak
For the torrijas
To coat
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Put 2 cups whole milk, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 strip lemon peel, 1 strip orange peel and 2 ⅛ oz sugar in a pan and heat until it starts to bubble at the edge. Take off the heat, cover and infuse for 10 minutes, then strain into a wide dish and let it cool until warm.
12 minStep 2: Lay the slices of 1 day-old dense bread or baguette in the milk and leave for 30–60 seconds on each side, until soaked through but not falling apart. Lift them onto a rack set over a tray to drip for a few minutes.
4 minStep 3: Mix 3 ½ oz sugar and 2 tsp ground cinnamon on a plate. Put 3 eggs in a shallow dish.
Step 4: Heat 1 ¾ cups mild olive oil or sunflower oil in a deep frying pan to 350°F (a cube of bread sizzles and browns in about 40 seconds). It should come about 1 cm up the side.
Step 5: Dip each slice in egg, letting the excess drip off, and fry 3 or 4 at a time for 1–2 minutes on each side, until deep golden brown. Too hot and the outside burns before the middle sets; too cool and they soak up oil.
10 minStep 6: Drain briefly on kitchen paper, then turn in the cinnamon sugar while still hot so it sticks. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 370 kcal
- Protein
- 9 g
- Carbs
- 52 g
- Fat
- 14 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does torrijas take?
- About 30 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of whole milk?
- Semi-skimmed milk with 1 tbsp cream per 240ml (1 cup).
- What can I use instead of cinnamon stick?
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon per stick.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Baklava
The famous layered pastry: crisp sheets of buttered fillo sandwich a filling of almonds, pistachios and cashews spiced with cinnamon, cardamom and saffron. After baking, the hot baklava is soaked in a syrup of sugar, honey, lemon, rose and cardamom and decorated with almond and pistachio flakes. Cut into 40 diamonds; serve with fresh cream or ice cream.
Horchata de chufa
Horchata de chufa is the drink of Valencia's summer, sold ice-cold in the city's horchaterías with long, soft fartons pastries for dipping. It is made from chufas, or tiger nuts: small wrinkled tubers grown around the village of Alboraya just north of Valencia, which have their own protected designation of origin. Soaked, ground with water, strained and sweetened, they give a creamy, nutty, naturally dairy-free milk with a hint of cinnamon. Valencians drink it very cold, or half-frozen as 'granizada'. Chef's tip: soak the tiger nuts for a full 24 hours and change the water once; they must be plump and soft enough to blend into a fine pulp, or the horchata will be thin and taste of raw starch.
Custard sauce
Proper pouring custard made the easy way with custard powder. It's thick, smooth and lightly sweet, just right with apple pie, crumbles, fruit salad and trifle. Serve it warm, or chill it for trifles.