Calatrava Bread

Related to the family of flans and the puddings, the pan de Calatrava might be one of the easiest and most gratifying recipes to make. Its basic ingredients couldn’t be simpler: milk, eggs, and sugar, with the addition of some pastry or bread (hence the name) as its defining feature. Basically, a classic egg flan but with a bonus. Doesn’t sound bad at all, does it?

It’s actually a use-it-up recipe to make the most of that loaf of bread, those magdalenas, those croissants, or those ensaimadas (to name a few options) that may have gotten a bit dry and we wouldn’t want to throw away. At home we don’t throw away a single gram of food. Because pan de Calatrava, as well as the French toast (another of the standout leftover-friendly desserts, if ever there was one), with its humble look and simple preparation, it's a true triumph for the palate and the wallet.

And for those of you who don’t know it, pan de Calatrava — also known as “leftover pudding” — is one of those recipes steeped in tradition. These days it’s considered a typical dessert from the Region of Murcia, also very popular in some areas of Andalusia (such as Almería), although it actually seems to have its origin in Castilla-La Mancha. Even so, in the province of Alicante (where I live) it’s also a very popular dessert in many of those classic, old-time 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 mold to plum cakes when it comes to preparing this recipe, we can really use almost any mold in whatever shape we like best. I opted for the Kitchen Craft ceramic pudding and cake mold which, besides delivering fantastic results for this kind of recipe (though its uses are many and varied), is simply a beautiful piece, don't you think?

Kitchen Craft Pudding and Cake Mold

Ingredients (for 6 people)

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

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

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven (electric, no fan) to 165ºC with top and bottom heat, and place the deep oven tray on the lower third (2nd lowest level). Then fill the tray with water up to ¾ of its capacity**.
2. The first thing we'll do is caramelize the mold (though some people skip this step; at home we can't do without that touch of caramel), for which we'll put the 65g of sugar and the 30ml of water in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil without remover. We’ll let the sugar dissolve on its own with the heat until it takes on a light, even golden hue; then remove it from the heat immediately, because sugar colors very quickly once it starts to caramelize. WARNING: Melted sugar at these temperatures can cause serious burns, so use extreme care when handling it.
3. We now pour the liquid caramel over the base of a 1,5-liter Kitchen Craft pudding mold that I've used***, and make a few circular motions so that it also covers part of the sides. Set aside.
4. If flavoring the milk, we place it in a saucepan medium along with the orange peel and the cardamom pods -which we will partially open so they release their aroma well- and bring to a boil. Once the milk comes to a boil, turn off the heat and let it rest, with the saucepan covered, for about 10 minutes. Strain and set aside. If we are going to use the milk directly without infusing it, obviously we will skip this step.
5. Next, in a wide bowl and with the help of a whisk, we gently mix the eggs and sugar so as not to incorporate air into the mixture (for this, a whisk is ideal ball-tipped rods) until you get a uniform mixture.
6. Next, add the flavored milk to the sugar and egg mixture gradually, stirring continuously (do not beat) with a whisk.
7. We then add the pastries we’ve chosen (I’ve used croissants of butter) crumbled at the bottom of the mold.
8. Finally, pour the egg, sugar, and milk mixture into the pan over the crumbled pastries and stir a little with a spoon so it spreads out and soaks in well.
9. Bake for about 60-65 minutes until the surface takes on a light golden color and the center is fully set (when inserting a skewer all the way to the bottom, it should come out completely clean and dry). As with any egg-based flan, if we underbake it, our pan de Calatrava will fall apart as soon as we unmold it or cut it; if, on the other hand, we overbake it, it will be excessively dry and may even take on a slightly greenish tint inside.
10. We remove the mold from the oven, taking care not to burn ourselves with any bain-marie water that may drip, and let our pan de Calatrava cool completely in 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 is better if left overnight, as this way the flavors intensify.
11. To unmold, run a thin knife around the mold to release the Calatrava bread pudding, place a plate or a serving platter over the mold, and flip it over. And that’s it!

A scoop of vanilla ice cream, a little (or a lot) of whipped cream, or a generous helping of custard, for example, make ideal accompaniments, but I’ll leave that up to you.

Pan de Calatrava, besides being much better the next day, keeps perfectly refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Kitchen Craft pudding and cake mold

Notes:

• *If using bread (always day-old) instead of pastries, we should soak it in milk for at least 30 minutes before adding it to the rest of the ingredients for our Pan de Calatrava; since it will provide less sweetness than the pastries, we can always slightly increase the amount of sugar in the recipe.
• **If we didn't have a deep oven tray for a water bath, we would use the rack, but we would then need an additional (oven-safe) container larger than our pudding mold, with enough capacity to fill it with about three fingers of water without it overflowing when we place the mold inside.
• ***If we're going to use a mold with different dimensions (always with enough capacity to hold our Pan de Calatrava), we'll need to review the baking time in the oven; for example, if it were lower and wider, the time would be reduced, even though the volume of the mixture were the same.
• As for flavoring the milk, some prefer to use it plain and skip this step. I’ve chosen orange and cardamom, but the possible options are countless, each more interesting than the last: the classic lemon and cinnamon, anise, etc.
• 1 tablespoon= 15 ml / 1 teaspoon = 5 ml

And so, steeped as it is in tradition, pan de Calatrava confirms—once again—that you don’t need anything complicated to end up with a dessert that keeps winning over anyone who tries it (and anyone who makes it!). Had you heard of it?

Hugs,

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