Leche Frita Recipe - Spanish Fried Milk - Visit Southern Spain (2024)

Many people don’t dare to make homemade desserts as they assume that they are difficult to make, or that it is a lot of work for a small amount of food.

Fortunately, the Leche Frita recipe comes to demolish this myth.

The best part is that you can make it in the size and quantities you want, so it can be used to feed a crowd, or to have a snack in your fridge and eat from time to time. Making this one of simplest yet delicious Spanish desserts.

Leche Frita translates to deep-fried milk, an authentic Spanish dessert that is easy to make, and the result is a delicious dessert.

You, dear reader, support this blog. If you purchase through a link, we earn a small commission. As an Amazon Affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Background of the Dish

Fried milk or Leche frita recipe is a Spanish dessert, and it is popular because you only need a handful of ingredients to make it.

The ingredients are very cheap and easy to find, in fact, you may already have them at home.

It is impossible to know the exact date of its creation since there have been different versions of this recipe in southern Spain for hundreds of years.

This, as well as other fried dessert recipes, is eaten at any time of the year, and in some Andalusian houses, it is served during different holidays, such as Christmas or Easter.

Things You’ll Need for Leche Frita Recipe

To make this leche frita recipe, you will only need 4 main ingredients: flour, milk, eggs, and sugar.

The other ingredients can be easily replaced, and when it comes to the equipment, a baking sheet and a large pot are all that you need.

In the same way that happens with other fried desserts, you will need plenty of oil, but you can change the amount depending on how you like them.

The milk is already cooked, so the frying part is to get them golden-brown, so you can use as much as you like.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups (600ml) milk
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 strip of lemon peel
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons (100g) icing sugar
• 4 tablespoons (50g) flour
• 3 tablespoons (35g) cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• oil (for frying)

How to Make Leche Frita Recipe – Step by Step Guide

1. For the first step on this Leche Frita recipe, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly grease it with oil.

2. Place the milk in a large pot, and add the cinnamon stick and lemon peel. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, and set aside. Run it through a strainer to remove the cinnamon stick and any leftover peel.

3. Put the eggs, yolk, sugar, cornmeal, and vanilla essence in a bowl and beat until you get a hom*ogeneous mixture.

4. Pour the milk over the eggs and mix well. Make sure that the milk is from warm to room temperature because otherwise the eggs will get cooked. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 3 minutes or until the cream thickens.

5. Put the cream on the baking sheet and smooth the surface with a spatula. You can spread some oil in the spatula so it doesn’t stick.

6. Let it cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours. After that, unmold the cream and remove the foil.

7. Cut it diagonally to get triangles or squares if you prefer. You can cut them in any size of your choice, but keep them medium-small so it is easier to fry them.

8. Sprinkle the pieces with the flour and shake to remove excess flour. In the meantime heat oil in a large frying pan over high heat.

9. Then fry the Leche frita pieces in batches for about 45 seconds. After that time, flip them and continue frying until golden brown. Remember that the cream is cooked so you only need to be golden on the outside.

10. With the help of absorbent paper remove the excess oil. Sprinkle it with cinnamon sugar and serve. To make the cinnamon sugar just mix 1 cup of white sugar (or any other granulated sugar of your choice), with 1 to 2 tablespoons of cinnamon.

Substitution of Ingredients

You can look for inspiration in other Spanish dessert recipes if you want to do some replacements.

For example, if you want to make it similar to a flan, you can make the milk cream without frying it, and then pour some caramel sauce on top.

As well as other recipes with milk, this can be turned into a vegan recipe.

You can use any vegetable milk of your choice, but make sure that it has similar fat content to regular cow milk.

If it doesn’t, then you can add some tablespoons of vegan heavy cream, vegan butter, etc.

If you liked the leche frita recipe then you should try other Spanish recipes, such as Churros, Spanish rice pudding.

The Spanish Flan Recipe, the pumpkin flan cake from Spain, and the Spanish bar cake are also a must-try when it comes to Spanish desserts.

Tips on Serving Leche Frita Recipe

If you make this sweet milk recipe, you can serve it as a dessert or as an afternoon snack.

Of course, it is one of the best milk dessert recipes, but there are some ways to serve it that will take this dish to a new level.

You can serve it similarly to other deep-fried desserts, with a scoop of ice cream.

One scoop of vanilla or cream ice cream goes really well, but you can choose your favorite flavor such as chocolate, strawberries, etc.

Besides that, you can put some fresh fruit on top, such as apples, pears, berries, or any of your choice. This works very well to give some freshness to the fried flavor.

There’s a good reason why this leche frita recipe is considered one of the best Spanish desserts.

If you need inspiration for other dessert recipes this summer, we encourage you to try the Spanish olive oil cake recipe and the apple empanada recipe.

How to Store Leche Frita

Fortunately, unlike other dessert recipes with milk and eggs, this one can be frozen.

You just have to let it reach room temperature, and freeze them for up to 30 days.

Then let it thaw overnight the day before. You can freeze them fried, or before frying them, it is completely up to you because the flavor doesn’t change at all.

This Leche Frita recipe truly stands out from other easy Spanish desserts to make.

Since you can also just store it in your fridge for up to 3 days after frying it (or even before frying it) and then coat them with sugar before eating it.

Recipe Card: Leche Frita Recipe