Rabanadas are a traditional Christmas sweet in Portugal and Brazil. Also known as fatias douradas (golden slices), fatia parida and fatias de ovo (egg slices), rabanadas are the Portuguese version of a French Toast.
Traditional rabanadas are made with stale baguette wheat bread, soaked in milk or red wine, and then coated in egg and fried in hot oil until golden. At the end, they are sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon and can be drizzled with sugar or wine syrup.
The rabanadas portrayed in this recipe are a little different from the traditional ones. These are milk rabanadas with sweet eggs. In other words, it is a meeting point between one of the best Christmas sweets in Portugal and Portuguese conventual sweets.
This recipe is from my mother-in-law, who has been making it for years and is loved by everyone in the family and beyond. These French toasts are soft and fluffy, accompanied by a delicious egg custard sauce. This recipe satisfies the cravings of egg candy lovers.
Without delays, let’s explain how to cook my mother-in-law’s milk rabanadas with sweet eggs sauce.
Portuguese Rabanadas with sweet eggs – Ingredients
Rabanadas
(by order of use)
- One stale baguette bread (about two days old or more)
- Hot milk (enough to drizzle over the rabanada without making them soggy)
- Five egg whites, beaten stiff.
- Sunflower oil for frying
Sweet eggs sauce
(by order of use)
- 250 gr of sugar
- 125 ml of water
- Lemon peel
- Five egg yolks
Portions: 16 to 18 (depending on the size of the bread)
Cooking time: 40 a 60 min
Rabanadas with sweet eggs sauce – Recipe
Rabanadas/French toast
1. Cut the baguette into slices the thickness of a finger (+-1 cm)
2. Spread them out on a tray
3. Heat the milk – It can be in the microwave or stove.
4. Drizzle the bread with milk, but just enough to soak the bread.
- Tip: Don’t add too much milk or the bread will fall apart. The rabanadas must maintain their shape and structure before receiving the egg custard.
5. Beat egg whites until stiff.
6. Pass each baguette slice through the egg whites until completely covered. It’s better to spread the egg whites directly with your hands, but don’t overdo the amount of egg whites. See the photo below.
7. Put sunflower oil in a deep pan and fill the pan halfway.
8. When the oil is hot (180º C), add the bread slices.
- Tip: Avoid overfilling the pan with bread. Otherwise, the oil temperature will drop too much. 2 or 3 French toast maximum.
9. Let the rabanadas cool and absorb the excess oil with absorbent paper.
Sweet egg sauce
1. In a small saucepan, bring 125 ml of water, 250 g of sugar, and a lemon peel to the boil.
2. Let it boil for 3 minutes until it becomes a sugar syrup. Remove from heat and let cool.
3. Stir the yolks until they are homogeneous.
4. When the sugar syrup is cooled, add a little to the egg yolks to temper the yolks and mix well.
5. Add the egg yolks to the remaining syrup and heat until the sauce thickens.
6. Over low heat, constantly stir the sauce and let it thicken a little.
- Tip: Don’t leave the sauce unattended. This process involves a lot of attention; otherwise, the yolks will split.
7. When the sauce is thick enough to make a spoon on the bottom of the pan, turn it off.
- Tip: If the sauce thickens a little, pass it through a strainer or with a hand blender until it has a silky texture – without lumps.
8. Place the French toast on the serving tray, drizzle with the egg cream, and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Although time-consuming, these rabanadas are easy to cook! Plus, you won’t regret it, the final result is simply delicious. Although most people will have rabanadas as a dessert on Christmas Eve, we thoroughly enjoy eating these milk rabanadas with egg sauce for breakfast on Christmas and New Year’s Day.
I want to thank my mother-in-law for delighting us with this recipe every year at Christmas and New Year. And giving me the recipe so I could share it with you. Delight yourselves
Pin it for later
