Leche frita
Simple and sweet Castilian dessert: set milk cream, coated in egg and flour, fried and dusted with sugar and cinnamon.
- Prep time
- 30 min
- Cook time
- 15 min
- Yield
- 8 servings
- Difficulty
- Medium
What you need
- 1 litre whole milk
- 120 g sugar (for the cream)
- 100 g cornstarch
- 1 cinnamon stick
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 2 beaten eggs (for coating)
- Flour (for coating)
- Mild olive oil for frying
- Sugar and ground cinnamon (for dusting)
Step by step
- 01
Reserve 200 ml of cold milk. Heat the rest with the cinnamon stick, lemon zest and sugar. When it boils, remove and infuse 10 minutes. Strain.
- 02
Dissolve the cornstarch in the reserved 200 ml of cold milk.
- 03
Return the infused milk to the heat and add the cornstarch mixture, whisking constantly.
- 04
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the cream thickens and separates from the pot's walls, about 5-7 minutes.
- 05
Pour the cream into a greased rectangular tray, one finger high. Smooth the surface and cool at room temperature. Refrigerate at least 3 hours, or overnight.
- 06
When the cream is firm, cut into squares or rectangles.
- 07
Coat each piece in flour, then beaten egg.
- 08
Heat plenty of oil to 180 °C and fry the leche frita in batches, browning on all sides. Drain on kitchen paper.
- 09
Immediately dust with the sugar-cinnamon mix. Serve warm or cold.
- Refrigeration is essential: if the cream does not set well, it cannot be coated.
- Fry with very hot oil and fast: the inside should stay creamy, not too hot.
Other traditional recipes
- MeatsGallina en pepitoriaPepitoria is one of the oldest Castilian stews and an emblematic dish of Atienza cuisine: chicken, almonds, saffron, hard-boiled egg and white wine.
- MeatsWood-fired roast lambThe star dish of Atienza mountain cuisine: milk-fed lamb roasted whole, with lard, garlic and white wine. Traditional recipe for the home oven.
- SweetsTraditional Easter torrijasThe undisputed sweet of Atienza Easter: bread slices soaked in milk infused with cinnamon and lemon, coated in egg and fried in hot oil.
Taste it in Atienza
The village restaurants serve the traditional recipe book all year round.