If a French toast, a donut, and a churro had a baby, it would be a rabanada. Rabanada is a traditional Brazilian Christmas treat that’s supposed to be eaten after the big Christmas Eve meal and Christmas morning with coffee. But who wants to wait? As my mom would fry the rabanadas on Christmas Eve, even before they were out of the oil, there was always a line of cousins and aunts waiting for a bite!

This is my mom’s traditional rabanada recipe she still prepares every Christmas –– although I have added my own little twist: buttermilk for some tanginess!

Let’s talk about bread.

The bread should be spongy and dense in the middle and it shouldn’t break easily when you soak with the milky liquid. The crust shouldn’t be too hard either.

I’ve discovered that the most reliable bread for this recipe is super cheap French bread from the grocery store. I know,…weird! But, if you want to experiment with other kinds of bread, let me know what works for you! (I’ve tried to make rabanada with really nice bread: sourdough and brioche, but it just didn’t work for me.)

Let’s get cooking.

TIME: 1 hour + 40 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• Two eggs
• 1 can of condensed milk
• 3/4 cup of milk
• A teaspoon of vanilla extract
• A pinch of salt
• Half a cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• About 2 cups of canola oil**
• A loaf of French bread –– needs to be pão dormindo (a day old bread!)

** For the canola oil: The amount of oil will depend on the pan you use to deep fry the bread. Whatever pan you use, make sure there’s enough oil so the bread floats and doesn’t touch the bottom of the pan.

TOOLS:

• Blender
• A wide container –– that’s deep enough to hold the liquid.
• Frying pan
• Skimmer
• Large baking tray
• Lot of paper towels
• Plate

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Slice bread into 1 inch slices.
2. Blend milk, condensed milk, buttermilk, vanilla extract, eggs, and salt for about 20 seconds.
3. Pour blended liquid into container.
4. Soaking: Wet both sides of the bread back and forth a few times. Use your palm to gently press against it. The center of the bread is the area that will absorb most of the liquid. Make sure your edges don’t have so much liquid otherwise it starts to fall apart. If the bread still feels pretty dry, repeat the process.
5. Frying: Pre-heat the oil. Makes sure the oil is very hot before adding the soaked bread. Fry the soaked bread until its golden brown on each side.
6. Place fried bread onto the tray and dry immediately.
7. Coat the hot fried bread with lots of the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Enjoy!