This is week 4 in the Farmhouse Holiday Series hosted by Kristen of Ella Claire Blog. We only have 1 more week left! This week we are each sharing our favorite holiday recipe and some of our kitchens decorated for Christmas.
Today I’m excited to share with you a traditional Christmas dish in Brazilian culture, Rabanada (In Portuguese it is pronounced, Ha-ba-NA-da).
Rabanada is a dessert served in mostBrazilian households on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. I’m probably exaggerating a little… but everyone I know has it around the holidays because it is SO FREAKIN DELICIOUS. I’ve mentioned it before, but my husband is from Brazil and after 12 years of marriage, I’ve learned how to make several nostalgic dishes from his culture that remind him of home, but also teach our children an important part of their heritage. Rabanada is basically Brazilian French Toast. It is served warm or cold, and is always amazing. Printable recipe is at the bottom of this post.
I shared a bit of our kitchen on Thursday in my Holiday Home Tour, but here is another view…
My girl has actually been sick all week but was feeling a little better today, so she insisted on helping me make these.
Just like french toast we all are familiar with, it involves dipping bread in a milk/egg mixture and frying it in a pan. Unlike french toast, you HAVE to use actual french loaf bread cut into 1″ slices instead of sandwich break. The crust plays an important role in how it stands up to what you soak/dip it in.
Another thing which makes this french toast different, is the milk mixture is kept separate from the eggs. That way you can soak the bread a little longer in that sweet milky goodness, but don’t have to worry about salmonella poisoning (without the possibility of raw egg remaining in the bread). You mix regular milk with sweetened condensed milk (I also add a little vanilla). Cinnamon is added to the beaten eggs.
Oh this sweet girl… she loves to play the “I love your more than…” game… every day… randomly. 🙂 She is also a solid egg-cracker.
Basically you mix up your sugar and cinnamon mixture in one bowl, another bowl with milk, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla, and one last bowl with eggs and cinnamon. Once your pan is pre-heated with some oil (I prefer cast iron since it cooks more even), you dip in a few slices of french bread in the milk mixture. Hold them down for about 10-15 seconds. One-by-one you pull them out, dip them in the egg mixture (flipping over several times so it is fully coated), then place them in the pan to fry.
Each side takes about 3-5 minutes to brown, so once both sides are browned, place them on a napkin to absorb excess oil. By the time you have the next batch in the pan frying, those slices will be ready to be coated in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
These DO NOT need additional sweet toppings like syrup or jam or anything. They are super sweet and decadent all by themselves. And it is impossible to eat just one.
I put a few pomegranate seeds on top because I thought the tartness contrasted well with the sweetness of the bread (and it looks pretty and festive), but honestly, everyone else in my family prefers them by themselves.
These keep really well too, if you refrigerate them. Just make sure you DO in fact refrigerate them if you don’t plan on eating them within a 6 hours because ya know… they were soaked in an an abundant amount of dairy… 😉
You might think that this would be a great breakfast… which would make you most definitely American. Americans are all aboutsweet breakfasts (pancakes and french toast smothered in syrup, doughnuts, sweet cereals, etc)… Brazilians do not eat Rabanadafor breakfast usually. Breakfast in Brazil consists of bread, cheese, maybe a slice of ham with your bread and cheese, fresh fruit, maybe a yogurt or smoothie.
Preeeeetty sure once you try these, you will have a hard time going back to regular french toast though…
So that’s it! I hope you enjoyed seeing our Christmas kitchen ‘in action’ and learning about one of the foodswe love mostaroundChristmas.
Christmas Kitchen + Brazilian Rabanada Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 loaf of french bread
- 2 c. milk
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 T. vanilla extract
- 5 eggs
- 1 T. vegetable or canola oil
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 T. cinnamon
Instructions
- Place medium-sized frying pan on stove and heat to medium-low heat and add the tablespoon of oil. While it is warming up, cut the french bread into 1" thick slices and set aside.
- In a medium bowl mix the milk, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla with a whisk until combined.
- In small bowl, whisk the eggs together with the teaspoon of cinnamon.
- In another medium bowl, mix the sugar with the cinnamon until cinnamon is evenly distributed.
- Push a slice of french bread into the milk mixture so that it is completely submerged for 10-15 seconds. Lift it out of the milk mixture and gently shake it so the majority of the milk drips off. Turn the slice over in the egg mixture a couple times so it is completely coated and immediately place it in the frying pan.
- Once the pan has 3-4 slices, let them brown for a few minutes (peeking to make sure they don't brown too much), and flip to brown the other side. After both sides are cooked on the slices, remove and place them on a plate with a paper towel on top. This will absorb any oil residue. After a few minutes to cool, place each slice in the cinnamon sugar mix and flip so both sides are generously coated. Serve immediately.
Merry Christmas Baking! 🙂
Don’t forget to see the rest of the holiday kitchen and recipes from the rest of the Farmhouse Holiday Series bloggersbelow!
Ella Claire | Craftberry Bush | Love Grows Wild | Rooms For Rent
Jennifer Rizzo | Shades of Blue Interiors | Kindred Vintage | My Sweet Savannah
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