Fried Milk

The fried milk is a typical Spanish sweet Lent, but is consumed throughout the year, consisting of flour cooked with milk and sugar.

Although its origin is not very clear, José Jiménez Lozano assures in his Book of the Gastronomy of Castilla y León that the fried milk comes from Palencia.

It is a very easy dessert to make that can also be consumed as a snack or to satisfy a craving at any time.

So get to work!

Option 1: Fried milk

Ingredients:

• 400 ml whole milk
• 35 g cornstarch
• 80g sugar
• The peel of a lemon
• 1 cinnamon stick
• I beaten egg
• Sugar
• Cinnamon powder

preparation:

• Put 300 ml milk in a saucepan with the sugar, the lemon peel and the cinnamon stick.
• When it comes to a boil, turn it off and remove it from the heat. Cover the saucepan and let it rest for 15 minutes.

• Also, dissolve the cornstarch in the remaining 100 ml of milk, beating vigorously.
• Strain the milk from the saucepan and transfer it to a clean container.
• Pour the milk with the cornstarch into the saucepan with the other milk and return to the heat, stirring so that all the ingredients are well integrated.
• Bring the container to a simmer and stir continuously (about 20 minutes) until a thick cream is left.
• Pour the cream over a wide and low rectangular dish, and cover it with plastic wrap, so that it is in contact with the surface to avoid crusting.
• Put the cream in the fridge and let it cool for a minimum of 4 hours (although it is better if it is left overnight).
• Once the cream is cold, cut it into rectangular portions and coat it in flour and egg.
• Fry them immediately in hot oil.
• When they are golden, drain them on absorbent paper and coat them with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon powder.

Option 2: Fried milk

Ingredients:

• 500 ml of milk
• 100 g of sugar plus 2 tablespoons for coating
• 40 g of cornstarch and a little more to coat
• 1 piece of lemon peel
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Cinnamon powder for coating
• 1 egg to coat
• Oil

Process:

• Put half of the milk in a pot with the cinnamon stick and the lemon peel.
• Cook over medium-high heat until almost boiling.
• Remove the pot from the heat, cover it and let it rest for 20 minutes.
• When the 20 minutes have passed, remove the cinnamon stick and the lemon peel and strain the milk into another clean pot.
• Add the sugar and mix well.
• In the rest of the milk, dissolve the cornstarch. When it is well dissolved, add it to the pot with the hot milk.
• Put the pot over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a few rods until the mixture thickens. It is better to have the heat low so that the flour cooks slowly.

• Cook for 20 to 40 minutes until ready. To know if it is done, put the pot horizontal and push all the mixture to one side. Put the pot back upright and if the milk does not move, or moves very little, it is ready.
• Coat a mold or tray with oil and pour the mixture into the mold.
• Let it cool to room temperature and then cover it and leave it in the fridge until the mixture has set (between 2 and 4 hours, but the longer it is, the better).
• Once cold, cut it into rectangular portions and coat it in flour and beaten egg.
• Immediately afterwards, fry the pieces of fried milk coated in hot oil for about 1 minute,  until golden on both sides.
• Remove from the oil and drain on absorbent paper.
• In a plate, mix two tablespoons of sugar with a little ground cinnamon and coat the fried milk in this mixture.
• Serve hot.

Featured image courtesy of Javier Lastras.