Calatrava bread

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 its main characteristic. Come on, a classic egg flan only with a reward. It doesn't look bad at all, right?

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 become a little dry and we would not like to throw away. And at home not a single gram of food is thrown away. Because Calatrava bread, as well as torrijas (another of the star sweet recipes where there is one), with its humble appearance and simple preparation, is a triumph for the palate and 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 region of Murcia, 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 traditional restaurants (and at grandparents' houses 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 mold for pudding and biscuits from Kitchen Craft which, in addition to giving a formidable result for this type of preparation (although its uses are many and very 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 noted.

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

Preparation

1. We 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 30ml of water in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to boil without stirring . We will let the sugar dissolve on its own with the heat until it acquires a light uniform golden tone, then we immediately remove it from the heat, as the sugar takes on color very quickly once it begins to toast. WARNING: Sugar melted at these temperatures can cause significant burns, so we must be extremely careful when handling it.
3. We now pour the liquid caramel onto the base of a 1.5 liter capacity Kitchen Craft pudding mold that I used***, and make a few circular movements so that it also covers part of the sides. We reserve.
4. If you want to flavor the milk, place it in a medium saucepan along with the orange peel and cardamom pods - which we will partially open so that they release their aroma - and bring to a boil. Once the milk starts to boil, turn off the heat and let it rest, with the saucepan covered, for about 10 minutes. We strain and reserve. If we are going to use the milk directly without flavoring, we will obviously skip this step.
5. Next, in a large bowl and with the help of a whisk, we mix the eggs and sugar gently so as not to incorporate air into the mixture ( ball-tip whisks are ideal for this) until a uniform mixture is obtained.
6. Next, we add the milk (flavored) to the sugar and egg mixture progressively and without stopping mixing (without beating) with the whisk.
7. We then add the crumbled pastries we have chosen (I used butter croissants ) to the bottom of the mold.
8. Finally, we pour the previous mixture of eggs, sugar and milk into the mold over the crumbled pastries 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 hue and the center is completely set (when inserting a skewer all the way in, it must come out completely clean and dry). As would happen with any egg-based flan, if we fall short on the baking time, our Calatrava bread will crumble as soon as we unmold it or cut it; If, on the other hand, we overdo it, it will be excessively dry and will even acquire a somewhat greenish tone 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 it is time to serve, since this type of pudding is best served cold and overnight, as this way the flavors are accentuated well.
11. To unmold, we will pass a thin knife around the mold to separate the Calatrava bread, we place a plate or a fountain 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 creme anglaise, for example, are ideal accompaniments, but I leave this up to your choice.

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

Kitchen Craft Pudding and Cake Mold

Grades:

• *If you use bread (always from the previous day) instead of pastries, we must soak it in milk for at least 30 minutes before adding it to the rest of the ingredients of our Calatrava bread; As it will provide 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 rack, but we will then need an additional container (oven-safe) larger than our pudding mold with enough capacity to fill it with water about 3 fingers without overflowing when introducing the first one 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 question of flavoring the milk, there are those who prefer to use it naturally, skipping this step. I have chosen orange and cardamom, but the possible options are countless, each one more interesting: the classic lemon and cinnamon, anise, etc.
• 1 tablespoon = 15 ml / 1 teaspoon = 5 ml

And so, loaded with tradition as it is, Calatrava bread confirms to us – once again – that complications are not necessary to end up with a dessert that never fails to conquer those who try it (and those who prepare it!). And you, did you know him?

A hug,

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