Air-Fryer Fried Milk (Leche Frita)
The Spanish dessert that sounds impossible — milk, sweetened and thickened with cornflour into a custard slab, chilled, sliced into squares, breaded and air-fried until the outside crisps and the inside goes molten. Dusted in cinnamon sugar.
Leche frita — "fried milk" — is one of Spain's quiet desserts. Milk thickened with cornflour and sugar into a pourable custard, chilled overnight into a sliceable slab, breaded, fried, dusted in cinnamon sugar. The exterior is crisp; the interior is a molten panna-cotta- adjacent texture that pours out the moment you cut through.
The technique requires chilling time (overnight is best, 3 hours minimum) but the active work is twenty minutes. Cornflour and milk cook into a very thick custard; pour into a square tin, chill to set, slice into squares, dredge in flour-egg-panko, air-fry at 200°C for 6 minutes per side until golden.
The photo shows the assembled cubes on a grey ceramic plate: pale golden squares with caramel-brown tops, one bitten through showing the white custard oozing out, dusted with cinnamon sugar. The dessert that makes guests ask "how?"
Method
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01
Infuse the milk
Warm milk with cinnamon stick and lemon peel in a saucepan over
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02
Thicken
Whisk sugar, cornflour, and egg yolks together. Pour warm milk over
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03
Chill
Pour into a parchment-lined 8-inch square tin. Smooth the top.
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04
Slice
Turn out onto a board. Cut into 24 small squares (about 1½-inch).
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05
Bread
Set up flour, beaten egg, and panko. Coat each square in flour, egg,
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06
Air fry
Heat the air fryer to 400°F (200°C). Spray squares with oil. Cook in
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07
Dust and serve
Mix sugar and cinnamon. Roll each warm square in the mix. Serve