Spanish Bunuelos de Viento, light as the wind
Spanish Bunuelos de Viento is an old fashion Spanish sweet. They are delicious although it´s true we don´t make it at home very often nowadays. New times, new ways to cook and eat, I guess. However, buñuelos is amongst those recipes that we must keep alive as it´s part of Spanish food tradition and culture.
Saving traditional recipes
I´m gathering all the classic (now considered old fashion) recipes and cooking them with my mum. She has the knowledge, that she got from my grandma and her aunties, so I want to preserve the recipes of my ancestors. The difference, I´m cooking with my mum now online! As I said, new times, new ways of cooking!
A sweet for specail occasions
The Spanish Buñuelos de Viento recipe is made for special occasions. In some parts of Spain, buñuelos are made for Easter; in other regions, for All Saints´Day, on the 1st of November. You can find them now in many patisseries and cake shops but it´s a sweet that was made in the past mainly at home.
If you google “buñuelos” you will see that they are described as similar to a doughnut, although I don´t agree with that. In both cases, the dough is fried but the texture is completely different. From my point of view, the dough of buñuelo is closer to a choux pastry but with just flour, water, a bit of yeast, and eggs. Even the process is similar to the French pastry as you will see in the recipe below.
Fill with air
Then, are they tasteless as a cloud you may be wondering? No, it´s just the buñuelo has to have a thin and crispy surface to contain the fillings you want to add (or nothing, if you prefer them plain) like custard, chocolate or a savoury version (the buñuelos de bacalao – cod fritters- are the best!).
They enjoy a bath in oil
The key to getting a good buñuelo is to make a smooth dough using good flour, let the dough rest, and fry at low temperatures. Once you master the temperature – which is not easy at the beginning so don´t despair if the first batches are not quite right-, you will see that they flip themselves over. I find this point sooooo mesmerizing and incredible! It´s like they were alive and playing in a swimming pool of oil. Watch the video in the recipe of the guys having fun in the oil.
¡Buen provecho!
[If you want to try other traditional Spanish sweet recipes, here you have some links to recipes like “arroz con leche”, Carnival ears, and some tips to get crispy churros at home.]
Spanish Buñuelos de Viento
Equipment
- Saucepan - mid-size
- Spatula or wooden spoon
- Hand blender
- 2 teaspoons
- Slotted spatula
- Plate with kitchen paper
- Platter
Ingredients
- 250 g water
- 250 g flour
- 5 g salt
- 10 g butter
- 5 g baking powder
- 300 ml pomace olive oil
- sugar to coat
Instructions
- Put the water in the saucepan with the salt and butter and heat to a boil. Add the flour in one go and stir with a spatula. Remove from the heat and continue stirring until the flour absorbs all the liquid. You will get a thick and a bit sticky dough. Let rest for 5 minutes.
- Once the dough is not so hot, add the eggs, one at a time. Break one egg in a small bowl to ease removing any eggshells before adding to the dough. Then, mix with the spatula. The dough will split at the beginning until the white part of the egg integrates. Don´t panic, carry on and the dough will start to get a smooth texture. Repeat the process with the rest of the eggs, again, one at a time.If the dough has some lumps, you can use the hand blender to smooth them out.
- Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
- While the dough is resting, prepare a plate with kitchen paper to put the buñuelos once they are fried to absorb the oil. After 25 minutes of resting, put the frying pan on the heat and start warming the oil slowly on medium-low heat, around 150-160°C.
- Once the oil is ready, start frying the buñuelos.With a teaspoon, take a small scoop of the dough and drop it carefully in the oil. You can help the dough fall into the oil with the other teaspoon. Depends on how big your frying pan is, you can add 4 or 5 more scoops but don´t overcrowd it as they need room to flip over. Let them fry one side. Don´t move them or flip them over as they will do it by themselves after a few minutes. Check the video. Let them fry until they get a golden colour. With a slotted spatula, take them out from the frying pan and put them on the plate with kitchen paper. Repeat the process until you finish the dough.
- When the buñuelos are cool enough to handle, coat them in sugar and serve on a platter.