Spanish Easter torrijas

Today we'll bring you another recipe for Easter: the typical spanish Torrijas.
There are many different versions of the torrijas in other european countries and it's a recipe of humble descent, and we do not know exactly what its origin is. It is usually believed that it has been created in the XV century, when monks invented this recipe to sweeten their lent period using the bread. There are also documents telling us that the torrijas may have an andalusi origin, since that the moorish have a sweet dish they called zalabiyya, that was a fried bread or a bun with honey. This version of it is to be found in countries like Egypt, Syria and Algeria.

The torrijas are a recipe that is as ancient as easy. You'll agree that is really simple and super effective, please try it at home! ;)

Sugar with cinnamon

Ingredients:

- Sliced bread (preferably of the previous day)
- milk (enough milk to wet completely the bread)
- lemon zest of lemon skin (and/or orange)
-egg
- a stick of cinnamon (optional)
- sugar
- cinnamon in powder
- honey (optional)
- olive oil (to fry the bread)

Preparation:

1º- Slice your bread, you can eventually do it with sandwich bread, but it will definately taste better with european bread.

2º- in a pot we put the milk on heat, together with the lemon and the orange zest or skin, the cinnamon and let it cook developing an excellent aroma.

3º- Beat an egg and put it aside. Prepare the sugar with the cinnamon in powder and put it aside too.

4º- Put some oil on a pan on heat to fry our torrijas.

5º- Put the bread slices deep into the milk, being careful not breaking them.
Remove the liquid in excess, pass them to the beated egg and put them in the pan to fry them. Once they are fried, we take them on a paper towel and pour the sugar with the cinnamon over them. And ready!

This is the classical version of them: the fried torrijas. Beside of the sugar and the cinnamon, you can add honey, liqueur, ice cream and so on over them...you choose!

A trick I would like to share with you is to pour the milk over the sliced bread, rather than submerge it into the milk. In this way it just wets the bread better. Then put it into the fridge, just to make them a little bit stronger and be sure they won't break. If you do like this, you'll have a very moist torrijas, since the bread will defrost the milk will go out...highly recomendable!

previously frosted torrijas

into the oven

Today wil talk you about other way you can have your torrija, since sometimes we just don't want to eat too much fried food, even if they are traditional. In the same way we fry our torrijas, we can also bake them on a pan or put them in an oven, reducing in this way their calories. Hey! You have no excuses left not to try our torrijas, huh? ;)
Of course they will not be as moist as they would be fried, but in this case a drizzle of honey or a sweet liqueur like the Ronmiel Arehucas.

torrijas in the pan

               

                                    

baked torrijas

                                   

 torrijas cooked in the oven

But there are not just the milk torrijas, there are also wine torrijas, done in the same exact way but with wine instead of the milk.
The torrijas or similar sweet dishes are just so popular in the Latin America, because of the spanish immigration. In these beautiful countries they are known as "torrejas" or even "tostadas francesas". In the english speaking World, they are known ad "french toast", but they usually are baked in a pan.

Happy easter everybody!

 AnGie