Torrijas are milk-soaked slices of baguette, crisply fried and topped with mouth-watering maple syrup or dusted with sugar and cinnamon.
Hola!
Today, I bring you a very well-known Easter treat in Spain called torrijas. They are milk-soaked slices of baguette, fried and topped with mouth-watering maple syrup or dusted with sugar and cinnamon.
You might have noticed that torrijas and French toast seem very similar, and in fact they are. The only small differences are that generally French toast is made with sandwich bread (instead of baguette) and that the egg is mixed in with the milk before soaking. Torrijas are dipped in beaten egg before frying, giving that crackling exterior.
Since my iaia used to make them all year round, it was a surprise when I learnt that these are typically eaten at Easter. It’s a very good use of stale bread, which is probably how it started. People of humble origins like my grandparents didn’t have the means, especially after the Spanish Civil War, so no food went to waste.
Traditionally, they are dusted with caster sugar and cinnamon. I made one batch with coconut sugar and cinnamon but they felt a bit dry. In the other batch I used maple syrup, because some people cover them with honey. This is not only healthier than sugar (it has a lower glycaemic index) but it adds an irresistible dripping temptation to moan with each mouthful of these beauties.
I called my iaia in Spain and I asked her about her torrijas recipe, which she gladly explain in detail, twice. A couple of pieces of advice, directly from her mouth:
- Don’t slice the bread too thick or the inside will not cook well and the crust will make it slightly harder to bite into.
- Don’t leave the bread slices for too long in the milk or they will fall apart. Just enough to soak in the milk and get soft (a couple of seconds).
- When frying, the torrijas need to be at least half submerged in oil or they won’t cook well.
- After frying, put them straight away onto a plate with paper towel. This should absorb some of the oil. I put two or three paper towels and it still soaked through.
What I like about this recipe, is that you can make as many as you want, rather than making a big batch that sometimes you cannot finish or share. And I apologise in advance for not putting ingredient quantities, since it really depends on how many you want to make, the size of the slices or how dry the bread is.
PLANT POWER, MAKE UP!
Two easy changes to make this recipe vegan: any plant milk will do to soak the bread in. I used sweetened milk or you can mix in some maple syrup and warm it up to dissolve well. Aquafaba can be used to dip the slices before frying, like the beaten eggs are used in the original recipe.
TORRIJAS (SWEET FRIED BREAD)
Makes: As many as bread slices you make
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
Sunflower oil or any other mild oil
Sweetened plant milk
Baguette bread, 1-inch slices
Aquafaba (chickpeas liquid from one can)
Sugar and cinnamon, or maple syrup
INSTRUCTIONS
- Fill in a frying pan with the oil to at least half inch deep and turn the heat to a medium-high.
- Pour some milk in a deep dish and soak the slices on both sides. Remove when the milk has soaked through and before they get too soft.
- Dip each bread slices in aquafaba right before putting in the frying pan and fry on both sides until brown.
- Remove from the pan and put straight away onto a plate with a couple of paper towels at the bottom to soak in some of the oil.
- Put them onto a clean plate, and sprinkle some sugar and cinnamon on top for a traditional topping, or simply add maple syrup.
Torrijas are meant to be eaten warm, just after frying. I wouldn’t recommend to keep them in the fridge, but they might be OK for later.
Bon profit!