Bunyols de vent (Catalan doughnuts)
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These traditional Catalan doughnut-like sweet snacks make their yearly appearance around All Saints' Day. They are easy to make, if a little labour intensive, and very, very moreish.
Ingredients
- 250ml of milk
- 50g of sugar
- 50g of unsalted butter
- 1 lemon , zest only
- 200g of self-raising flour
- 4 eggs
- 100ml of ratafia, (if you can't get hold of ratafia, you can use rum or any aniseed-flavoured liqueur like Sambuca or Pastis)
- 1 pinch of salt
- vegetable oil, for frying
Method
1
Bring the milk to the boil in a saucepan with the sugar, butter, pinch of salt and the lemon zest
2
Once boiling, add the flour and work the dough with a wooden spoon. When the dough is smooth and it doesn’t stick to the sides, remove the saucepan from the heat and leave to cool
3
When the dough has cooled down, add the eggs one at a time and combine thoroughly. Add the ratafia (or liqueur of your choice) and mix into the dough
4
Leave the dough to rest for half an hour
5
Heat the oil in a deep frying pan and take a tiny portion of the mixture with a metal spoon. Work the mixture into a ball with the help of another spoon
6
Drop the ball carefully into the oil and fry the bunyol until golden. The bunyols will double in size. Be careful not to heat the oil too much, otherwise the bunyols will be raw inside when cooked on the outside. It should be a gentle fry
7
Drop the other bunyols into the pan being careful not to overcrowd it. The bunyols will turn on their own once each side is cooked, but keep an eye to ensure they are golden all over
8
Once the bunyols are cooked, remove them from the frying pan and place them on kitchen paper to drain. When they are still ever-so-slightly oily, roll them in sugar
9
Leave to cool for at least an hour before eating them. If you try them while warm they will seem undercooked!
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Bunyols de vent (Catalan doughnuts)
