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We are in the middle of the torrijas season and its peak comes with the Best Torrija Contest organized by the Association of Chefs and Pastry Chefs of Madrid (ACYRE), which was held on March 18. Once again this year, the contest distinguishes between two categories: traditional and innovative torrija.
In the traditional section, this year the award went to Plademunt. Imaginario Restaurant, by chef Iván Plademunt, located in Alcalá de Henares. This winning torrija is made by making a version of hornazo -a typical local bread-, which has great absorption capacity and makes the crumb of the torrija turn into a cream, as ACYRE has emphasized. It is served in two sizes: the small one costs 3.20 €, while the large one costs 6 €.
For its part, in the innovation category, the most original torrija has been the one elaborated by The Westing Palace. A creative recipe by the pastry chef Yolanda Rebollo, which consists of a savory torrija of potaje de vigilia with brioche bread made with chickpea flour, aquafaba (the water from the chickpeas) and crispy spinach corals. A proposal that surprised the jury!
The rest of the awarded torrijas
Completing the podium in the traditional section, second place went to El Panazo, with a homemade bread torrija and a syrup with flower water. The bronze was also won by Yolanda Rebollo of The Westing Palace, thanks to a proposal of buttery brioche bread bathed in citrus peel with cinnamon, fried and decorated with a crispy roasted milk.
Finally, the other two best innovative torrijas in Madrid were the Nude Cake, in the shape of a hamburger, and the 24 Onzas, a bonbon ingot with a toffee layer, brioche soaked in white chocolate ganache with lemon and cinnamon stripes.