Torrijas (Spanish recipe for Easter)

Semana Santa (Easter week) is one of the main holidays in Spain, so it's no wonder that there are many traditional recipes prepared specially for it. One of the popular sweets is torrijas, a dish similar to the British bread pudding. This recipe is quite easy and requires no oven, just a stove top and the main ingredient: stale bread.

The Spanish call for "pan del día anterior", or bread from the previous day, any kind of loaf of bread can be used, I will use a normal baguette that has been sitting the entire day and has dried quite a lot. Stale bread is preferred because it absorbs the milk without breaking apart.


Ingredients:
- Stale bread cut into slices
- 250 ml milk
- 1 cinnamon stick
- A piece of lemon peel
- 50 g. + 2 tbsp sugar

Procedure:

1. Heat the milk on low-medium, add 50 g of sugar, the cinnamon stick (you can leave the cinnamon out and add any flavoring of your choice, such as vanilla bean) and the lemon peel. Remove from the heat when it starts to boil, and let it come to room temperature.

2. Cut the bread into slices (thickness may vary depending on your choice, I like them about 4 cm thick (or 1 and 1/2 inches) and lay them on a tray.

3. Once the milk has come to room temperature (lukewarm is okay as well) pour it over the bread slices (depending on how many bread slices you have, you may need more or less milk). Let it sit until the bread has absorbed all the milk.

4. Heat frying oil to deep fry your torrijas (some people like to pan fry them, I leave it up to you), and beat an egg in a deep plate, adding 2 tbsp sugar to sweeten it (I also like to add a few drops of vanilla extract).

6. Coat each soaked slice of bread with the beaten egg and drop them into the hot oil. Fry them on both sides until golden brown.

7. Once all the slices are fried, you can mix some sugar with ground cinnamon and sprinkle them with it before serving (or you may leave out the cinnamon).

The torrijas will be crispy outside and the inside will have a pudding-like texture. I tend to crave torrijas so often, it is impossible to resist during Easter. They're the staple in Spain during this week, along with the chocolate eggs and leche frita (some other day I'll share the recipe as well).

If you try it don't forget to share! Follow FourEyedCook on Instagram and use the hashtag #foureyedcook to share your creations with me!