Leche frita (fried milk) recipe: an easy to prepare Spanish dessert

There are those who cannot imagine a Holy Week without torrijas, and there are also those who do not forgive leche frita (fried milk), a very delicate delicacy because of its smoothness and delicious taste. Above all, it is a very traditional recipe from the region of Castile and León that is always prepared for the most important celebrations of the year. Here is the recipe to make leche frita at home, it is very easy and quick to prepare. The only thing to bear in mind is that it is best to leave it to rest for at least a day; so that the flavours are more intense.

Ingredients for the leche frita recipe:

• 1 litre of whole milk
• 100 g cornstarch
• 100 g sugar
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• Orange peels without white (2)
• Lemon peels without white (2)
• 2 anise flowers (optional)
• 50 g cornstarch (to coat the leche frita)
• 2 eggs (for frying)
• Abundant sunflower oil for frying
• 150 g sugar and 1 tbsp powdered cinnamon (to coat the leche frita at the end of the recipe)

How to make it:

• Put the milk in a saucepan, reserving one cup to dilute the cornflour. Add the cinnamon, orange and lemon zest and anise flowers to the milk. Heat until the milk starts to boil. At this point, turn off the heat and cover the pan to allow the mixture to infuse for 10 minutes.
• In the meantime, dilute the cornflour in the cold milk previously reserved until there are no lumps. After 10 minutes, put the pan back on the heat and remove the herbs: orange and lemon zest, cinnamon and anise flowers.
• Add the sugar and stir until it starts to boil again. Then add the cornflour and without stopping stirring, cook over medium heat until it starts boiling again. Leave the mixture to thicken for a few minutes, as if it were custard or Spanish natillas.
• Once the mixture has thickened, pour the cream into a previously buttered rectangular bowl so that it comes off easily and cover the dough with cling film. Leave to cool to room temperature and then put it in the fridge for at least 5 hours or better from one day to the next.
• Now mix sugar and cinnamon to taste so that you can coat the fried milk portions at the end of the recipe.
• When the cream is ready, remove it from the mould and cut it to the desired size; then put a lot of sunflower oil to heat over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, put the pieces in the cornflour, then in the beaten egg and fry them until they are golden brown.
• Once they are fried, leave them to rest for a few seconds on kitchen paper to remove the excess oil. Without letting them cool down too much; pass them through the sugar with the cinnamon and the portions of fried milk will already be ready to serve. You can accompany this delicious leche frita recipe with strawberry jam or any other jam you like.

You can eat the leche frita cold or hot to everyone’s taste; even better if you let the leche frita rest from one day to the next!