Some of us find comfort in the arms of a lover, whilst others find comfort in a bottle. For me, and after the week thats been, comfort was found in a warm pile of leche frita that had been lightly dusted with cinnamon sugar.

Leche frita is a traditional dessert that is found all over Spain, but they can also be found in Italy too, although they tend to refer to them as latte dolce fritto or crema fritta there. I'll be honest with you in saying that they can be a little fiddly to make first time around, but they're well worth the effort.

Hence, leche frita is quite simply milk that has been infused with vanilla, cinnamon and citrus that is then turned into custard with the help of flour, butter and egg yolks. Once the custard is firm and has set it is cut into bite size squares and breaded, shallow fried and then liberally dusted with cinnamon sugar. The end result is a warm, runny, velvety like custard centre that is crispy and sugary on the outside.

Too many of these will probably send your cholesterol levels through the roof, but hey we're talking comfort food here, are we not?



Leche Frita- Fried Milk


Adapted from The Food of Spain 2008

Ingredients

250mls full fat organic milk

250mls of heavy cream

1 cinnamon stick

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1 strip of orange zest

1 strip of lemon zest

140g unsalted butter

250g plain organic flour

140g golden caster sugar

4 organic eggs, separated

120g fine dry breadcrumbs

Grapeseed oil, to shallow fry

Cinnamon sugar, for dusting



Method

1. Grease a 27 x 17cm rectangle tin and line the base and sides with baking paper. Then put the milk, cinnamon stick, citrus zest and vanilla bean in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat and set aside to allow the milk to infuse.

2. Melt the butter in a large non-stick saucepan over a medium heat, then stir in 185g of the flour. The mixture will form a loose clump around your spoon. Reduce the heat to low and then stir in the sugar. Gradually add the strained milk into the saucepan, stirring constantly.

3. Mix for about 10 minutes or until a smooth mass forms and leaves the side of the saucepan. Remove from the heat and stir in the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. Spread the custard mixture in the tin, ensuring that the surface is smooth. Refrigerate for an hour and allow to set.

5. Lightly whisk the egg whites together. Lift the set custard from the tin and carefully cut into 5cm squares. Dip the squares in the remaining flour and coat all the sides before dipping them into the egg whites and then the breadcrumbs.

6. Pour the oil in a frying pan to the depth of 1cm and heat. Add a few squares at a time and cook for about a minute per side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towel and generously dust with the cinnamon sugar while still hot. Serve immediately and enjoy!