My Favourite Brazilian Christmas Treat

OK, don’t all laugh at me, but I heard a rumour going round that Christmas is fast approaching. I haven’t worked it out exactly, but my guess is that there aren’t many shopping days left until the big day itself. This information does not compute. I have spent every day this past week thanking whoever it was that invented air conditioning (and also thanking my father-in-law for donating an air conditioner a few weeks back).

Seriously, I put up a hammock yesterday. Hammocks and Christmas are not, in my book, words that go together.

Ah, my lovely hammock from lovely Colombia. This trusty fellow looked after me on an interminable boat ride down the Amazon and it's great to see him again. However, does this scene strike you as Christmasy? I guess the hammock does have a bit of a Santa colour scheme going on...

So I am having to seriously re-think my expectations of Christmas. I’ve had a few hot Christmases in the past – one in Australia, one in Colombia and one, last year, here in Rio. And yet somehow these were all novelties, one-offs, first time experiences. This year it feels quite different – it feels like this is the first of many on Brazil, so I had better deal with the differences.

I guess it’s natural for expats to want to recreate the things they miss from home, particularly at special times of the year like Christmas or Birthdays. I have to admit that the nicest birthday present I received this year was when all my Brazilian family and friends sang Happy Birthday to me in English. I loved it and it made me feel happy and sad at the same time.

But whilst I’ve got nothing against recreating things you miss from home, I also think it’s great to embrace the customs/traditions of your new country. As food is such a big part of Christmas, I thought I’d tell you about my favourite Brazilian Christmas treat. And in the spirit of embracing Brazilian culture, it is seriously sweet and uses leite condensado (condensed milk). Somewhat like French Toast, the name in Portuguese is Rabanadas (the R at the beginning sounds like an H).

They’re actually really easy to make. They’re also really easy to eat, so be careful because these guys will seriously mess up your calorie-count. There are plenty of variations on this recipe, so this may not match the traditional way or the way that your mum makes them, but this will be yummy either way. You’ll need these ingredients:

• Baguette
• 3 eggs
• 300ml whole milk
• 150ml condensed milk
• 75g sugar
• Plenty of cinnamon powder
• Plenty of caster sugar
• Vanilla Extract (optional)

But the baguette into 2cm (1 inch) slices, do them diagonally to make them a bit bigger (you can leave these slices to go a bit stale if you like – many recipes I’ve seen suggest this, but I don’t see that it’s essential). Now mix the eggs, milk, condensed milk, sugar and vanilla (if you’re using it) in a bowl. I’m pretty sure the vanilla is not strictly speaking authentic, but I think it’s a nice addition and if you have a problem with it, leave it out (people are so weird about traditional recipes).

OK, so put your bread slices in this mixture, turn them around so they are completely covered and give them at least 15 minutes to soak up the goodness. Now put enough vegetable oil in a saucepan or frying pan so that it is 2 inches deep. Heat it to deep frying temperature (i.e. hot!) and fry the bread pieces until they’re golden brown.

Take them out, drain them on kitchen paper and then sprinkle liberally with caster sugar and cinnamon. Seriously, go nuts with the sugar and cinnamon. You now have before you something seriously naughty and delicious. And do you know what? This is what Brazilians have for Christmas breakfast! Yes, they’re über-sweet and would normally be too much for me, but a big sugar hit at the start of Christmas day is actually a great way to get going and prepare yourself for all the boozing, cooking, chatting, laughing and eating you have in front of you.

Oh yes! Sweet, cinnamony, juicy and delicious.