Torrejas: French Toast from Uruguay

We were served torrijas at a Spanish wedding. I was quite surprised that this rather simple dessert aka French toast was actually served at a wedding. Just like for French toast, you will dunk old bread in milk first and then dip it in eggs before you fry it with some olive oil in a frying pan. However, wehn we were served these torrijas at the wedding, my hubby got so excited, he managed to eat two servings despite the fact that we had been served an endless amount of courses beforehand. I am sure the simple French toast was made extra special, the milk was replaced with heavy cream and homemade bread used. Spanish torrijas are normally served during lent, you try to offer something filling even if it may be plain and simple.

When I was flipping through my favorite cookbook from Uruguay “Nuestras recetas de siempre” from Hugo Socca, I stumbled upon torrejas. I finally understood why I was always confused when I saw this word in Spain. Don’t ask me why, but in Uruguay this dish is called torrejas whereas in Spain it is called torrijas. The procedure is very similar, old bread gets to soak in milk, dipped in eggs and then is fried, at the end you sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. However, Uruguayans seems to be open to other types of fat. Whereas the Spanish torrija is traditionally fried in olive oil, you may find lard, butter, or another type of oil happily used in Uruguay. The main difference between torrejas/torrijas and French toast is the fact that they will be moister as you first want the bread to fully soak up the milk. The eggs don’t play such an important role. In Uruguay you may find this dish served with the milk caramel called dulce de leche whereas in Spain honey would be more common. As you can see from my pictures, we ate them plain with just a few raspberries and thought this was good enough.

Torrijas or torrejas are a perfect breakfast in my opinion as it uses very few ingredients, nothing is wasted and will keep you full long. If you make these, I recommend using really old bread, I used toast bread from the store, which got so extra soft after bathing in all that milk that it was hard to flip. So be sure that your bread is dry and hard for the best results. It still tasted great, but as said, hard bread, old bread works best.

French Toast from Uruguay: Torrejas

Prep Time: 30min Cooking Time: 5-10min

Uruguayan torrejas are very similar to French toast. However, the main difference is that the bread soaks in milk first and is only briefly placed in egg wash, resulting in a moister texture.

Ingredients

  • Per person:
  • 250 grams of milk (full fat is best)
  • Optional: Some vanilla extract and/or a cinnamon stick
  • About three thick slices of white bread such as brioche, baguette, toast. However, be sure that your bread is old and dry, when I used toast bread from the store, I had a hard time turning the French toast as they had been soaking in milk and got very soft)
  • Olive oil for frying or butter
  • Cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

1

You will see how make the cake in this video. First heat the milk gently. If desired, infuse with a cinnamon stick and/or vanilla extract. Let cool.

2

Pour the milk (without the cinnamon stick) into a casserole, soak the sliced bread in it for about 10 minutes, turn after about 5 minutes. The bread should have fully soaked up the milk. Prepare the egg(s) in a different bowl, stirring with a fork and briefly soak the bread slices in them. Heat a frying pan with oil, fry the toast in it until golden, it will take about two minutes per side. Sprinkle with a mix of cinnamon and sugar if desired and serve plain, with honey, some fresh fruit or some syrup. Best enjoyed immediately.

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5 Comments

  • Reply
    Regina Barbara Katzenberger
    Saturday February 25th, 2023 at 04:07 PM

    Liebe Jenny, wie lecker sehen deine Torrejas, Arme Ritter, aus Uruguay aus. Arme Ritter waren auch mein Lieblingsessen als Kind und ich muss gestehen, dass ich nicht mehr weiß, wann ich sie zuletzt gegessen habe. Umso schöner ist es, dass du mich an dieses Gericht erinnerst. Man braucht ja nur eine Handvoll Zutaten, wenig Zeit und Geld – und schon stehen sie auf dem Tisch. Offensichtlich ist es ein Essen, das schon die römische Küche kannte und heute weltweit gegessen wird. Deine Version mit der gewürzten Milch und ohne die „Ei-Tunke“ finde ich genial. Das ist ein tolles Rezept für unser Thema. Meine Enkel*innen werden sich freuen, wenn ich sie mit deinen leckeren Torrejas bekannt machen werde. Viele Dank für das super Rezept. Viele Grüße, Regina

  • Reply
    Britta
    Thursday March 2nd, 2023 at 11:37 AM

    Ehrlich gesagt, habe ich noch nie Arme Ritter gegessen. Vermutlich, weil es bei uns immer Doppelback, ein Roggenmischbrot, und so gut wie nie Weiß- bzw. Toastbrot gab und irgendwie nie Brot übrigblieb und jetzt auch kaum übrig bleibt. Ich esse Brot tatsächlich meistens bis zum letzten Stück auf und was dann übrig bleibt, wird zu Paniermehl gemahlen.

    Vielleicht sollte ich einfach mal Toast trocknen lassen. 😉

    Liebe Grüße
    Britta

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Thursday March 2nd, 2023 at 12:55 PM

      Das wäre mal ein Plan 😉

  • Reply
    Sarah von Kinder, kommt essen!
    Sunday March 19th, 2023 at 05:44 PM

    Oh, wie lecker! Ewig nicht gegessen. Danke für die Erinnerung an “Arme Ritter”.
    LG, Sarah

  • Reply
    zorra vom kochtopf
    Tuesday April 11th, 2023 at 09:44 AM

    Ich musste gleich Torrijas für meine Jahresserie “So schmeckt Spanien” machen. Die sind einfach zu köstlich!

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