Related to the family of flans and puddings , Calatrava bread may be one of the easiest recipes to prepare and at the same time most appreciated. Its basic ingredients could not be more: milk, eggs and sugar, to which is added a part of pastries or bread (hence its name) as the main characteristic. Come on, a classic egg flan only with a prize. Doesn't look bad at all, does it?

It is actually a recipe for use in order to take advantage of that loaf of bread, those muffins, those croissants or those ensaimadas (to name a few options) that may have been a bit dry and we do not want to throw away. And it is that at home not a single gram of food is thrown away. Because the Calatrava bread, as well as the torrijas (another of the sweet recipes of star use where they exist), with its humble appearance and its simple preparation, is a triumph for the palate and for the pocket.

And for those of you who don't know it, Calatrava bread – also known as “leftover pudding” – is one of those recipes steeped in tradition. Today it is considered a typical dessert from the Murcia region, also very popular in some areas of Andalusia (such as Almería), although it really seems to have its origin in Castilla la Mancha. Even so, in the province of Alicante (where I live) it is also a very popular dessert in many of those traditional restaurants (and at the grandparents' house on more Sundays than I can remember).

Although it is true that it is very common to use a plumcake mold when preparing this recipe, we can really use almost any mold with the shape that we like the most. I have opted for the ceramic pudding and biscuit mold from Kitchen Craft which, in addition to giving a formidable result for this type of elaboration (although its uses are many and varied), is simply a beautiful piece, don't you think?

Kitchen Craft pudding and biscuit mold

Ingredients (for 6 people)

All ingredients should be at room temperature, unless otherwise noted.

• 65 g white sugar, to caramelize the mold
• 30 ml (2 tablespoons) water, to caramelize the mold
• 650 ml of whole or semi-skimmed milk
• Peel of ½ orange (avoid the white part, as it is bitter) – optional
• 20-25 cardamom pods – optional
• 150g white sugar
• 5 eggs (L)
• 200g approx. of bread* or pastries (muffins, croissants, ensaimadas, sponge cake, etc.), preferably from the day before

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven (electric and airless) to 165ºC with heat up and down and place the deep oven tray in the lower third (2nd lowest level). Next, we fill the tray with water up to ¾ of its capacity**.
2. The first thing we will do is caramelize the mold (although there are those who skip this step; at home we cannot do without that touch of caramel), for which we will put the 65g of sugar and the 30ml of water in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil without stirring . We will let the sugar dissolve by itself with the heat until it acquires a light, uniform golden hue, then remove from the heat immediately, as the sugar takes on color very quickly once it begins to brown. WARNING: Melted sugar at these temperatures can cause significant burns, so extreme care must be taken when handling it.
3. Let's now pour the liquid caramel onto the base of a 1.5 liter Kitchen Craft pudding mold that I have used***, and make a few circular movements so that it also covers part of the sides. We booked.
4. In case of aromatizing the milk, we place it in a medium saucepan together with the orange peel and the cardamom pods -which we will partially open so that they release their aroma well- and bring to the boil. Once the milk starts to boil, turn off the heat and let it rest, with the saucepan covered, for about 10 minutes. Strain and reserve. If we are going to use the milk directly without flavoring, obviously we will skip this step.
5. Next, in a large bowl and with the help of a whisk, mix the eggs and sugar gently so as not to incorporate air into the mixture (for this , ball-tipped whisks are ideal) until a uniform mixture is obtained.
6. Next, we incorporate the milk (flavoured) to the mixture of sugar and eggs progressively and without stopping mixing (without beating) with the rods.
7. We then add the pastry that we have chosen (I have used butter croissants ) crumbled at the bottom of the mold.
8. Finally, pour the previous mixture of eggs, sugar and milk into the mold over the crumbled pastry and mix a little with the help of a spoon so that it is distributed and soaked well.
9. Bake for about 60-65 minutes until the surface acquires a light golden tone and the center is completely set (when inserting a skewer to the bottom it must come out completely clean and dry). As would happen with any egg-based flan, if we fall short with the baking time, our Calatrava bread will fall apart as soon as we unmold or cut it; if, on the other hand, we overdo it, it will be excessively dry and will even acquire a somewhat greenish hue on the inside.
10. We remove the mold from the oven, being careful not to burn ourselves with the bain-marie water that may drip, and let our Calatrava bread cool completely inside the mold on a cooling rack at room temperature. We will keep it refrigerated and well covered until serving time, since this type of pudding is served cold and better from one day to the next, as this way the flavors are well accentuated.
11. To unmold, we will pass a thin knife around the mold to separate the Calatrava bread, place a plate or a source on the mold and turn it over. And ready!

A scoop of vanilla ice cream, a little (or a lot) of whipped cream or a generous dose of crème anglaise, for example, are ideal accompaniments, but I leave this to your choice.

Calatrava bread, in addition to being much better from one day to the next, is perfectly refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Kitchen Craft pudding and biscuit mold

Grades:

• *In case of using bread (always the day before) instead of pastries, we must have it soak in milk for at least 30 minutes before adding it to the rest of the ingredients of our Calatrava bread; As it will add less sweetness than pastries, we can always slightly increase the amount of sugar in the recipe.
• **If we did not have a deep oven tray for the bain-marie, we would use the grid, but then we will need an additional container (suitable for oven) larger than our pudding mold with enough capacity to fill it with water about 3 fingers without overflowing when introducing the first inside.
• ***If we are going to use a mold of different dimensions (always with enough capacity to accommodate our Calatrava bread), we will have to check the cooking time in the oven; for example, if it were lower and wider, the time would be reduced, even though the volume of the mix was the same.
• Regarding the issue of flavoring milk, there are those who prefer to use it naturally, skipping this step. I have chosen orange and cardamom, but the possible options are innumerable, each one more interesting: the classic lemon and cinnamon, anise, etc.
• 1 tablespoon = 15 ml / 1 teaspoon = 5 ml

And so, steeped in tradition as it goes, Calatrava bread confirms – once again – that complications are not necessary to finish off a dessert that never fails to win over whoever tries it (and whoever prepares it!). And you, did you know him?

A hug,

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