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From Guatemala
The Torrejas are a typical Guatemalan dessert especially popular during Christmas and during Lent. Torrejas are common in many Latin American countries and every country makes them a little different. There are also many different versions of the Guatemalan recipe for Torrejas. I chose this version because it is somewhat easier and I made sure the ingredients are easy to find. It is customary to add rum to the syrup but I was going for a kid friendly recipe here. Sometimes Torrejas and Molletes are used interchangeably but in Guatemala these are two different dishes. The Molletes are filled with custard.
Ingredients.
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons of flour
- 12 panes dulces o panes de manteca (lard or sweet bread)
- 2 cups of vegetable oil
Ingredients syrup
- 1 lb sugar
- 3 cups of water
- zest from one orange
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- 3 cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 ounces of raisins
- 4 ounces of prunes
Beat the eggs until they form stiff peaks, add the flour and mix it in carefully. Pass the breads through the egg mixture until they are completely covered. Fry in hot oil making sure to turn them around once so that they cook on both sides. Put the fried bread in a colander and pour hot water over and let them drain, this is done so that they will not be greasy. To make the syrup bring the water to a boil, add the sugar, orange zest, allspice, cloves and cinnamon. Finally add the raisins and prunes. Place the Torrejas in the syrup. Serve with a prune in the center and sprinkle with sugar.
