Every year around this time, regardless of where in the world we were living at the time, my mother will be looking forward to making this traditional recipe from our home country, Spain.
It was not an easy feat. In Spain you can find the particular type of bread needed to make torrijas in almost every corner when Easter recipes start appearing on TV, but this is not the case in other places. A dense, hard type of bread is the best to achieve the creaminess desired for a perfect torrija. Luckily for me, I found the perfect bread in the UK- a Caribbean hard bread. It made amazing torrijas, super creamy, dense and not too delicate so they kept their shape easily in my vegan version.
Traditionally, torrijas are made using milk, sugar and eggs, two things I don’t use in my cooking. But I have managed to get these done and as delicious as the original version of them, without using anything else than plant based ingredients. I wouldn’t necessarily call the ‘healthy’ as they are fried, but they are healthier than their counterparts due to the lack of refined sugars and dairy.
So, lets get into it:
1 pack of hard dough bread cut into thick 2 inch slices
3 cups non dairy milk
1 tablespoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons unrefined cane sugar or coconut sugar
vegetable oil for frying
In a pan, heat up slightly the milk with the sugar and cinnamon. The aim is to get the sugar to dissolve in the milk, which is much easier when the milk is warm. Place the warm milk mixture in a shallow tray and put the bread inside as well so it can absorb the liquid. They need to soak for a long time as we want the liquid to penetrate to the middle of the bread, not just the sides.
Once the bread is soaked through, place it on a plate that you have previously covered with a paper towel and let them drain slightly while you warm up the oil for frying. This is where you would normally dip them in egg, but I didn;t really do anything else than frying and they held shape very well. If the bread is too soft, I would consider tossing them onto chickpea flour to dry them up slightly before frying. It would also make the outside more crunchy which is a plus.
The oil should cover to the middle of the bread so the torrijas get cooked all around while frying. You will fry each side until golden and then put them on a paper covered plate to drain the excess oil. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top to serve while warm.
You’ll end up with a delicious cinnamon flavoured custard like bun. So creamy on the inside that, literally, melts in your mouth!
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