Spanish Easter Cakes - Recipe

Torrijas - Typical Fried Pastries for Pascua

Jan 23, 2008 Rachel L. Webb

Try these delightful little cakes fried in olive oil, a tradition at Eastertime. Dip them in honey, wine, cinnamon or sugar for a tasty treat.

Each country has its own special Easter cake or pastries and Spain is no exception, these little cakes which are made from bread, milk and honey and fried in olive oil are a popular Easter tradition and a different Easter treat.

Torrijas are a typical Spanish cake or dulce that is made and sold at Easter. Many of Spain’s traditional cakes and pastries are made on the top of the cooker and of course fried using the local olive oil.

These cakes will be on sale in pastelerías and panaderias all over Spain this Easter. They were probably, as with many of the traditional Spanish cakes, first made in a convent kitchen, where the nuns were rather experimental with the frugal ingredients they had.

Nuns with their convent kitchens are famous across Spain for their wonderful cakes and pastries or pasteles y dulces and many still sell their freshly baked produce at the convent doors, as a means of supplementing their income.

These torrijas are no exception, they are eaten all over Spain and are a typical Eastertime pastry, they are very easy to make and are served with a variety of dips which alters the taste of these yummy little treats.

The main ingredients of milk, bread honey and eggs means they are made from store cupboard ingredients, so it’s a handy recipe for unexpected visitors. Add different bowls of dips in which to dunk your torrijas and you’ve got a variety of different flavours in one batch of cakes.

Ingredients

• 32 fl. oz of milk
• olive oil
• 16 oz. honey
• 16 oz. sugar
• 8 eggs
• Slices of bread – thickly sliced

Preparation

1. Cut a large loaf of bread into fairly thick slices or you use ready sliced bread but it must be thick. Cut them either in half or into strips or triangles.
2. Mix the milk and sugar together in a deep bowl.
3. Put the eggs in a separate dish and beat them well.
4. Heat the oil until very hot, but not smoking.
5. Dip the slices of bread in the milk and egg mixture.
6. Fry the dipped bread slices until golden Brown, lift out onto kitchen paper to drain off the excess oil.
7. Arrange the 'torrijas' on a serving dish and drizzle the honey all over them.

It is also the tradition to add the remaining sugar and milk mixture to the serving dish so the 'torrijas' can soak it up and become more spongy.

Serving Tip

In little bowls for dipping the cakes into add wine, syrup, honey, sugar and cinnamon.

They are rather like a sweet egg-fried bread - delicious.

See here for more on Spanish Cakes or Spanish Recipes.

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Torrias