Leche Frita

A very traditional dessert in Spain, “fried milk” is not difficult to do but requires patience. Leche frita

Ingredients:
1 liter milk
Lemon zest
1 cinnamon stick
3 egg yolks
2 eggs
5 generous Tbsp sugar
5 generous Tbsp corn starch
floor to cover before frying
frying oil (olive oil goes well but gives a certain taste)
sugar glace and cinnamon powder to dust after frying

Directions:

1. Bring all but a glass of milk to a boil then let simmer for a few minutes, covered, at medium low heat with the lemon zest and the cinnamon stick. Stop the fire and let all infuse in the milk (typically 20 minutes, but this varies depending of taste).
2. Dilute the corn starch in the reserved glass of milk. Add the two egg yolks and steer a little to open up the yolks.
3. Prepare a mold with parchment paper covered with butter
4. Remove lemon zest and cinnamon from infused milk. Add the rest of the milk and the sugar stirring continuously (especially if the milk is still hot). Put on high heat and bring to a boil, then let simmer while stirring. Keep simmering and stirring for 15-20 minutes until you get the consistency of a custard.
5. Pour in the mold. The mixture should reach 2cm of height. If the mold is too big, use the parchment paper to stop it at the correct height. Cover with the paper to prevent from drying.
6. Once cool, put the mixture in the fridge until you are ready to serve the leche frita. You can keep the mixture for 3/4 days in the fridge.
7. To serve: beat the remaining two eggs, cover a plate with flour. Take the cool mixture out of the fridge, cut it in squares or triangles (we do squares of 4cm approximately). Heat oil in a frying pan over high heat, the pieces should be covered by the oil so better choose a small and deep pan. Pass each square in the flour then in the egg and fry until golden, then place them on a plate covered with kitchen paper (to absorb the extra oil). Powder with the sugar glace and the cinnamon powder. Eat warm.

Extra:
In more traditional recipes, they use 5 Tbsp of flour in addition to the corn starch (we then use whole wheat flour). You can also replace the corn starch by flour altogether. The mixture then needs less time to semi-solidify. If you are constrained by time, you can put the mixture in the deep-freezer for a while to coll it faster. Some recipes do not use the egg yolks.