Torrejas en Miel de Piloncillo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide shallow dish for soaking the bread
• •Medium saucepan for the piloncillo syrup
• •Wide heavy skillet or cazuela for frying
• •Slotted spatula
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan
• •Whisk or hand mixer for the egg whites

Instructions

1. 1

   Dry the bread

   If your bolillo is fresh, slice it the night before and leave it uncovered on the counter. Torrejas need stale bread. Fresh bread turns to mush in the milk and falls apart in the lard. The bread has to be dry enough to drink the milk without surrendering its shape. This step is the recipe. No me vengas con atajos.

2. 2

   Infuse the milk

   In a small saucepan, warm the milk with the canela stick, sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt over medium-low heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring it just to the edge of a simmer, then pull it off the heat. Cover and let the canela steep for 15 minutes. The milk should taste sweetly spiced, not just sweet. Use canela mexicana, the soft Ceylon bark, not the hard cassia sticks sold as cinnamon in American supermarkets. Cassia is harsher and the flavor is wrong for this dish.

3. 3

   Build the piloncillo syrup

   While the milk steeps, combine the chopped piloncillo, water, two canela sticks, clavos, orange peel, and raisins in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the piloncillo dissolves completely. Let it bubble gently for 15 to 20 minutes, until the syrup coats the back of a spoon but still runs off. You want a loose syrup, not a thick caramel. The torrejas will keep soaking it up after they go in. Piloncillo is not brown sugar. It carries a smoky, mineral edge from the unrefined cane, and that is the flavor you came for.

   If your piloncillo cones are hard as rocks, wrap them in a kitchen towel and crack them with a hammer or the back of a heavy knife. They dissolve faster in pieces.
4. 4

   Soak the bread

   Strain the spiced milk into a wide shallow dish and discard the canela. Lay the bread slices in the milk in a single layer. Let them soak for one minute per side. They should drink up the milk without collapsing. If a slice falls apart, your bread was not stale enough. Lift each piece out gently with a spatula and rest them on a plate.

5. 5

   Whip the egg whites

   In a clean dry bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold soft peaks. Add the yolks one at a time and beat just until incorporated. The batter should be foamy, golden, and thick enough to cling. This is the capeado, the same technique you use for chiles rellenos. The whipped whites are what give the torreja its puffy golden crust. Skip this and you have plain fried bread.

6. 6

   Fry in lard

   Melt the lard in a wide heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. A drop of batter should sizzle on contact and float. La manteca es el sabor. Dip each soaked bread slice into the egg batter, turning to coat both sides, then lower it into the hot lard. Fry three or four at a time, not crowding the pan, for about two minutes per side. The crust should turn deep gold, the color of toasted piloncillo. Lift them out with a slotted spatula and rest them on a wire rack. Do not drain on paper towels. The towel steams the bottom and you lose the crisp.

   Keep the lard at a steady medium heat. Too hot and the egg burns before the inside warms through. Too cool and the torreja drinks oil and turns greasy.
7. 7

   Bathe in the syrup

   Lower the fried torrejas into the simmering piloncillo syrup, fitting as many as the pan holds without stacking. Let them bathe for two to three minutes, spooning syrup over the tops, then turn them once. The bread will swell as it drinks the syrup. Pull the pan off the heat and let them rest in the syrup for another five minutes. This is where the dish becomes torrejas and not just fried bread. The piloncillo, the canela, the clavo all settle into the crumb.

8. 8

   Serve warm

   Plate two or three torrejas per person on a shallow talavera bowl or saucer. Spoon extra syrup over the top so the bread is glistening, scatter the raisins from the syrup across each plate, and finish with toasted pecans and a dusting of ground canela. Eat them warm with strong coffee or a clay jarro of atole. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Bolillo and telera are the right breads. If you cannot find them at a Mexican panaderia, a day-old French bread will work as a compromise. Sliced sandwich bread will not. The crumb is too soft and the result tastes nothing like torrejas.
• •Piloncillo is sold in cone form at any Mexican market and most Latin grocery stores. Brown sugar is not a substitute. The molasses notes are different and you lose the mineral depth that defines the syrup. If you absolutely cannot find piloncillo, use dark muscovado, but know you are compromising.
• •Canela mexicana, the soft Ceylon bark, is what this dish needs. The hard cassia bark labeled 'cinnamon' in most American supermarkets is bitter and overpowering. Buy a small bag at any Mexican market. It costs nothing and changes everything.
• •Torrejas are best eaten the day they are made. They will keep a day in the refrigerator and reheat in a low oven, but the crust softens and the dish loses its contrast.

Advance Preparation

• •Slice the bread one or two days ahead and leave uncovered on the counter to stale. This is the most important advance step. Stale bread is the recipe.
• •The piloncillo syrup can be made up to three days ahead and refrigerated. Warm it gently before adding the fried torrejas. The flavor deepens overnight as the canela and clavo settle.
• •Do not fry the torrejas in advance. The capeado loses its puff and the crust softens. Fry and bathe at the table, or as close to serving as possible.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 285g)