There is no Easter in my house in which we do not eat a good vigil stew with some torrijas for dessert. According to chef Víctor Fernández, known on networks as Vity, to get the perfect torrijas you have to follow “three very grandmotherly tricks, very secrets,” so that they are “very juicy and without strange ingredients.”
The first thing is to boil the milk. Fernández uses two cups (about 400 ml) that he puts in a saucepan to heat with half a cup of sugar (100 grams) that we will stir until dissolved, a cinnamon stick and the peel of half an orange without the white part so that it does not become bitter, as the experts at Directo al Paladar (DAP) recommend. What we will do is infuse the milk so that it takes on the flavor of cinnamon and citrus. To achieve this we have to bring it to a boil and just before it starts to boil, turn off the heat and let it cool with the cinnamon and the skin in the milk.
The first of the tricks that Fernández gives is just about this step, because he explains that the infused milk is what will give all the flavor to the dessert. “If you don't take the time to infuse them, your torrijas will taste like bread soaked in milk,” he says. Be patient, let it cool well before taking out the cinnamon and orange, and your torrijas will really notice it in the end.
In choosing bread we have the second trick. For that amount of milk, we need about 6 or 7 slices cut diagonally and a couple of centimeters wide. “Traditional torrijas are made with bread, not brioche. And if it is hard from the day before, the better,” explains Fernández. The experts at DAP, and the writer as well, like to use candeal-type bread because the type of crumb is good, but always from the day before because the best bread for torrijas will always be somewhat old. If you don't have one, don't worry, use a normal loaf but listen to Fernández and forget about sliced bread or Mercadona's special torrija bread. Day-old loaf bread.
@vitycocina 3 tricks to make PERFECT TORRIJAS 🍞 Village, easy and cheap. Juicy on the inside, golden on the outside and without getting complicated. Recipe of a lifetime. 👉 Follow me for more traditional recipes
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We place the cold milk in a tray and put the slices of bread in it so that they soak well. The time in which we will have them in the milk “depends a lot on the bread” according to the cook, so turn the slices until “they start to be soft in the center” as the expert explains. When the bread is soaked, beat a couple of eggs and heat olive oil in a frying pan. When the oil is hot, we pass the bread soaked in milk through the egg, coating it on both sides and fry. We turn them until they are golden brown and remove to a plate with absorbent paper to remove excess oil.
We only have to sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on the torrijas and follow the last of Fernández's tricks: “you need to let the already fried torrijas rest in the leftover milk. They will be juicier.” The milk that was left over from soaking the torrijas is full of flavor and will give it extra juiciness. “Leave them there for at least half an hour,” he recommends.
Once ready, you can enjoy a wonderful dessert that, with these tricks, will always turn out well. Fiance.
