Mollete and Torreja Recipe for Easter Week

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A recipe that is hundreds of years old, and part of the culinary tradition of Guatemala, a post-colonial heritage of Spanish cuisine. As time goes by, Guatemala has made its own, as part of its culinary tradition and with variations in its ingredients according to each family. This is a dessert that is now part of the menu of all typical food restaurant in Guatemala and is the favorite dessert during the Easter season.

If you are a lover of sweet dishes, then MOLLETES should be your favorite desserts, a delicious sweet bread dipped in honey that you can not miss; If you have not tried it yet, then this is your chance to enjoy this magnificent dessert.

A tradition that began in Totonicapan, during the Spanish colony. The area of Totonicapan was known in Guatemala for its good bakers and in particular for its production of sweet bread. The bakers produced large pieces of bread based on egg yolks to overwhelm the town during the Easter season, since they did not work during these days.

The inhabitants of the town, to accompany the meals with some dessert, thought to submerge the sweet breads in a honey syrup (made with of sugar cane, also known as “panela”), anise, clove, ginger, fig leaf, orange leaf and cinnamon. And so the recipe emerged that soon became popular and spread to the rest of Guatemala.

Difference between Mollete and Torreja

To prepare the famous ‘Mollete’, you have to remove a small cap and fill it with cream, sugar, raisins and sweet wine, then wrap it in beaten egg, fry it in oil and boil it with a honey or syrup.

The syrup is prepared with water, sugar and spices like the ones we have just shared, without forgetting that a key ingredient which is panela, this sweetens and brings more pronounced flavor for the dessert as well as it gives a warm-dark coloring to the syrup, although it is also possible to prepare it with white sugar.

On the other hand, there is the "torreja", unlike the "mollete", it lacks filling and it is also served with honey or traditional syrup from this dessert.

Ingredients

• 12 sweet muffins ("pan dulce" or "pan de manteca") or 6 big sweet muffins
• 1 cup of cream
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 2 ounces raisins
• 1 tablespoon of sweet wine
• 6 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of flour
• Frying oil

Syrup Ingredients

1 cup of panela or sugar
4 cups of water
1 cinnamon slit
5 cloves
5 fat peppers
lemon or orange peel

Preparation

• With a spoon, remove a cap to each muffin and empty inside. Leave a small piece of bread on the side to use it as a cap later.
• Make a mixture with a bit of the muffin crumb, the cream, a little sugar, raisins and sweet wine.
• Then, fill the muffin with the cream mixture.
• Cover each muffin the little piece of bread as a cap
• Beat the egg whites until stiff, add the yolks and the flour and mix well. Wrap the muffins with this mixture and fry in oil.
• A quick tip, to pass each muffin by boiling water to eliminate the fat.
• To prepare the syrup, boil water, and add the panela, and other ingredients and boil for 20 minutes. As an optional touch, you can add a couple of tablespoons of rum.
• Finally, in a big bowl, put all the muffins and cover them in the hot syrup and let them cool.

You may serve them cool or warm as you wish. When serving, we recommend to do it with syrup to taste.

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