Portuguese Christmas Deep Fried French Toast with Port Wine Syrup

I know it gets to December and it’s just Christmas recipes all day long hahaha, but today we have something special, a delicious variation of the classic Portuguese rabanada (sweet deep fried French toast), featuring a luscious Port wine syrup, wallnuts with some hints of cinnamon. But you can make this exact recipe with red wine or white wine, no problem at all. It’s also known as “fatias paridas com vinho” golden slices with wine, and is quite common in northern Portugal, where these beauties are served bathed in this sweet wine syrup.

Generally speaking, any rabanada served in syrup has its positives and negatives. The positive is that it stays more tender and lasts longer, nobody likes a dry, hard rabanada hehehe. The negative is that sometimes they can get too soft and of course lose their crispiness if they are a couple of hours old, and in this specific case, unlike a honey or lemon syrup, the wine will also stain the rabanadas. I only put a little bit of the syrup for the photos and they were freshly made, but after about 12 hours they’ll turn purple. The flavor is still delicious, but some people don’t love the look, so I’m just warning you. If that doesn’t sound good to you… well, here at Bakeafter there’s no shortage of portuguese rabanada recipes to choose from, a little something for everyone.

Now, a note about Port wine, while the original recipe uses Portuguese red wine (a good Douro red, hehehe), I highly recommend using Port wine for this adaptation. Port wine gives you that gorgeous deep flavor with natural sweetness and those beautiful cinnamon notes that make this dessert truly special. So let’s get to the recipe!

Portuguese Christmas Deep Fried French Toast with Port Wine Syrup

Servings: 12
Time: 2hr 30mins
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
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Nothing makes Christmas better than a big pile of Rabanadas, and these with a Port Wine syrup are wonderful variation just a bit more adult than the more common options.

Ingredients

Bread – 8 Slices of Rustic Bread or a Thick Baguette (+/- 300g, cut diagonally)
Milk – 1 Liter (Whole Milk)
Lemon – 1 Peel
Eggs – 4 L
Cinnamon – 2 Sticks
Cooking Oil – For Frying (I used Sunflower Oil)
Port Wine – 300ml (Or Good Red Wine)
Sugar – 110g
Walnuts – To taste (+/- 80g)

Directions

As with any French toast, you need to start with bread that is very dry, left to dry for at least 2 days, but preferably 3 days. If you want it to dry faster, cut the bread into diagonal slices (to get nice long French toast), so that the bread will dry faster.
After a few days, when you’re ready to make the Portuguese French toasts, cut the bread into 8 slices about 2 fingers thick, if you haven’t already done so.
Heat the milk without boiling it, with a lemon peel and a cinnamon stick, then pour it into a large bowl once it’s hot.
Whisk the eggs and pour them into another bowl.
Pour oil into a large frying pan, about 3 fingers deep and heat over medium-high heat until hot (you can put a little bread in when it starts to bubble, then the oil is ready, or you can put a wooden spoon in and when it starts to bubble, the oil is ready).

Dip the bread in the hot milk, let the bread absorb the milk, turn the bread over, remove the slice of bread and let it drain a little in your hand, then dip it in the whisked egg, drain a little and gently put it into the hot oil, then fry both sides until golden brown.

In my case, I can fry 3 slices at a time. Repeat until you have no more bread. When golden brown, remove to kitchen paper towels or a draining rack, then put them all in a serving tray.

For the syrup, heat the port wine with the sugar and a cinnamon stick, let it cook and reduce, allow the alcohol to evaporate completely (this is a recipe also for kids) and form a liquid syrup, taste it and when it has the consistency you like, remove from the heat and pour over the French toasts.

Finally serve the Portuguese Rabanadas French toast with some walnuts on top, bon appétit and Merry Christmas.

Tips & Notes: Use a sturdy white bread, french Thick Baguette or a Portuguese style Rabanadas bread (similar to a thick baguette or Italian bread). Challah or brioche also work wonderfully but will give you a softer, sweeter and richer result. The key is that the bread must be stale, fresh bread will fall apart.

If you’re in a hurry, you can dry the sliced bread in a 200°F (95°C) oven for about 30-45 minutes, turning once halfway through. Just don’t let it toast!

Keep your oil at a steady 350°F (175°C). Too hot and the outside will burn before the inside is cooked; too cool, and they’ll absorb too much oil and become greasy.

While the original calls for a good Douro red wine, using Port wine (Ruby or Tawny) will give you a more complex, sweeter syrup with less need for added sugar. If using regular red wine, you may want to increase the sugar slightly. White Port or white wine also works beautifully if you prefer to avoid the purple color.

Yes, your rabanadas will turn purple if you let them soak in red wine syrup for hours. If this bothers you, serve them immediately with just a drizzle of syrup on top, or use white wine/Port instead or just serve the syrup on the side for anyone to add as they please ;D

The syrup should be thin and pourable when hot, it will thicken as it cools. Don’t reduce it too much or it’ll become sticky and hard to work with. Think maple syrup consistency.

These are traditionally served at room temperature or slightly warm. You can garnish with extra cinnamon, crushed walnuts, or even a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream if you’re feeling fancy.

Keep covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. The wine syrup acts as a preservative and keeps them moist, but they are best eaten on the day, like i said too much time and they will start getting mushy.

This recipe for Portuguese Christmas Deep Fried French Toast with Port Wine Syrup was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Rabanadas de Vinho com Nozes foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.