BUNUELOS

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Sephardic Fritters

 

Dough:

 

1 package dry yeast

1 1/3 cups warm water

3 cups white flour

2 eggs, well beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

 

Syrup:

3 cups honey

1/4 cup water

 

Olive oil (enough to cover a deep pan or wok to a depth of at least 1

inch)

 

 

Topping:

 

Cinnamon

Powdered sugar

 

Dough:

Dissolve the yeast in 1/3 cup warm water. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Place the flour into a medium bowl. Stir the yeasted water, the

beaten eggs, salt, and olive oil into the flour all at once.

Gradually add the remaining 1 cup water to make slightly tacky dough.

Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour until doubled in bulk.

 

 

Syrup:

Mix the honey and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a hard

boil. Reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 5 minutes and then turn down

the heat to its minimum setting, so that the syrup remains hot but

does not boil again.

 

Bunuelos:

 

In a large deep skillet or wok, heat the olive oil to approximately

375 F or hot enough for a drop of water to sputter.

Dip a tablespoon into the oil to coat. Dip out a scant teaspoon of

the dough and drop it into the boiling oil. Dip out a scant teaspoon

of the dough and drop it into the boiling oil. You can fry several

bunuelos at one time as long as you do not crowd the pan. As they

fry, turn them several times until they puff up and become golden in

color, about 8 minutes.

Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain them on paper towels.

 

Place them on a plate, drizzle the hot honey syrup over them and

sprinkle them with cinnamon and powdered sugar.

 

Variations:

Joyce Goldstein mentions the Bunuelos in her book " Sephardic Flavors "

as 'Frittelle de Hanukkah' (but they are lovely all year round)

She adds 1 tablespoon aniseeds and the grated zest of 2 oranges to

the dough, and uses lemon juice instead of water for the syrup.

I haven't tried this version, since I'm not at all fond of aniseeds,

however I think the orange zest and lemon-honey syrup give a certain

Mediterranean touch.