RABANADAS AT BISTRÔ4

Rabanadas, or Portuguese-style French toast, are a must for a typical Portuguese Christmas Eve spread. Also known as fatias douradas (golden slices), this is a traditional Portuguese sweet that was taken to Brazil and adopted by many as a tradition.
This sweet can be served either as breakfast or as dessert and can’t be left out at Christmas. Get your family together and serve this delicious delicacy that is quick and easy to make with ingredients you’re sure to have at home.

Let's learn how to make it!

To make rabanadas, you can choose to make the recipe from scratch, i.e. make the brioche dough and then make the rabanadas, or you can buy the brioche bread in advance and just make the rabanadas.

If you want to make your own brioche dough, you will need three 21x7cm cake tins and the following ingredients:

Ingredients:

• 510g flour type 55
• 10g table salt
• 255g whisked eggs
• 50g sugar
• 50g milk
• 12g baking powder or 4g dry yeast
• 305g butter at room temperature

How to prepare the brioche dough:

Pour the milk into a bowl, add the baking powder and stir well until completely dissolved.
In the blender bowl with the dough, add the flour, salt, sugar and eggs, together with the milk and yeast mixture made earlier.
Next, mix at medium speed until you obtain an even dough that comes out of the bowl. Then add the butter cut into pieces and mix again until you obtain an even shiny dough that comes loose from the container.
Keep the container covered with cling film in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day. ..

Remove the dough from the cold and divide into 400g portions.
On a floured surface, shape the dough into a roll and place in a greased cake tin with greaseproof paper on the bottom.
Cover with a cloth or cling film and set aside at room temperature, near a heat source, so that the dough rises to double its volume.
While the dough rises, preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Once it has risen, brush the dough with beaten egg and place in the oven for about 25 minutes.
After it has baked, place on a rack to stop it going soft.

If you buy pre-baked brioche bread, skip these steps.

Next let's make the rabanadas . ..

Ingredients:

• 5 eggs
• 500g milk
• 200g hazelnut oil
• 150g sugar
• 10g ground cinnamon

Cut the brioche into about 2cm slices, toast in the oven at 180 degrees or in the toaster until golden brown and leave to cool completely.
Beat the eggs in a bowl and pour the milk into another bowl.
Soak the brioche in the milk, then dip it in the beaten egg and set aside.
Heat the hazelnut oil in a frying pan, and then add the eggy bread mixture.
Let it brown on both sides, so the French toast is sealed on the outside, but keeps moist and soft inside.
Finally, let it cool a little and then coat it in the sugar and ground cinnamon mixture.

That’s it. .. now taste!!

Besides being simple and quick to make, this recipe courtesy of the pastry chef at the Bistrô4 restaurant, Filipe Rato, is absolutely delicious! Make this recipe at home and experience Portuguese traditions with your family, or if you are in Lisbon come to the Bistrô4 restaurant and try this delicacy in our company.