Torrijas making process

 Torrijas are a typical Spanish dessert that are very popular during lent and holy week in Spain.  Stale bread is soaked in a sweetened milk, then dipped in egg and fried.  It's sort of a variation on French toast!

This recipe is loosely based on Sandra Celis Roiz's torrijas recipe book.

Makes about 15

For the Syrup:

3 cups water

1 ½ cups sugar (I used raw turbinado sugar)

1 stick cinnamon

Peel of 1 small orange

Peel of half a lemon

For the Torrijas:

1 stale day-old baguette sliced into ¾ inch slices

4 cups of whole milk

1 cups sugar (I used raw turbinado sugar)

1 stick cinnamon

Peel of 1 small orange

Olive Oil for frying

1. Start by making the syrup. Combine all ingredients in a small pot and simmer for 45 minutes and set aside to cool. Once it is cool, remove the peels and cinnamon.
2. For the torrijas, combine the milk, sugar, cinnamon, and orange peel in a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir frequently and watch the mixture carefully. Once it’s come to a boil, turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool.
3. Place your bread into a shallow pan or cookie sheet with a lip.
4. Once the milk mixture is lukewarm, pour it over your bread. Allow your bread to soak up the milk. If your baguette is really hard, you can leave it in the milk for a few minutes. You don’t want the bread to be so soggy that it falls apart.
5. In a frying pan, heat a half inch of olive oil over medium high heat until it’s very hot.
6. In a bowl, lightly beat 6 eggs.
7. In batches, take each piece of bread from the milk and dip it in the eggs and put it in the oil. Allow the torrijas to cook to golden brown and then flip and fry the other side until golden.
8. Drain torrijas on paper towels and continue the frying process in batches until you’ve used all the bread.
9. Put the fried torrijas into a bowl or plate and drench with all of the syrup.
10. You can eat the torrijas hot, warm, or cold. Store leftovers in the refrigerator and eat them cold for breakfast the next day!