When fall approaches and family festivities come closer, many prepare for a holiday favorite. My favorite fall creations are Buñuelos. They are tortilla-like desserts that are made from scratch and eaten during Christmas time in most Mexican households.
They are special to me because every part of the Buñuelo is handcrafted and made at home.
From preparing the dough, to expanding it and then frying each one, making a buñuelo is a true craft. The process is often te- dious but with the help of family or friends, it becomes a great way to spend time with one another.
Ingredients:
4 cups of white flour 2 cups of water
1 cup of sugar
3 cups of corn oil
Preparation Time: One hour Cooking Time: 30 minutes Makes about 20 Buñuelos First, take 4 cups of flour and mix them with 2 cups of water in a large bowl. Once the consistency of the dough that is made with the water and flour is soft and expandable, then take some additional flour and spread it on the counter.
The dough should be compressed and made into small balls that will then be expanded into large circles, similar to a tortilla or pizza crust. Each ball of dough should be expanded with a rolling pin until the tortilla-like dessert is very thin.
Once this step is complete, set aside all of the prepared dough and prepare a pan with oil. The pan should have around 1 cup of corn oil in it.
It is important to remember that the oil must be heated long enough to put the buñuelo in right away. Do not let the oil heat too long or have the flame up too high, otherwise it will burn the buñuelos as soon as you place them in the pan.
Now that you are ready to start frying the buñuelos, take them one by one with a pair of tongs and carefully place them in the pan with the oil. Again, it important to note that they must not be in the oil for too long, but long enough to be cooked. Thirty seconds should be long enough.
Take the buñuelo out and place it in a tin covered in napkins so that all of the oil can drain on the napkins. Continue this step until all of the buñuelos are done. Once you are finished, set the buñuelos aside so that they can cool down. If you rush ahead without letting the buñuelos cool down, they will no longer be crunchy and will become too soft.
Once the buñuelos have cooled down, grab as much sugar as desired and spread it over each buñuelo, turning them over so that both sides have an equal amount of sugar.
It often takes a long time to make the dough and expand it perfectly to make it round enough to look right, so there is another, faster alternative. Simply buy white flour tortillas and then fry those in the oil instead, which will save you from having to make the dough on your own. After you fry the tortillas let them cool down and follow the same steps of spreading the sugar.
