We explain how to make some delicious pestiños, pan flowers, anise donuts and fried orange donuts, typical Easter sweets ideal to share with the family.
The Traditional Pastry of Holy Week is characterized by a wide variety of delicious desserts and typical sweets, which are made in a traditional, habitual and daily way in Spain during the days of celebration of this popular religious festival, and which have been prepared for many, many years.
This is the case of troikas, a traditional dessert that in fact can be made and enjoyed practically all year round and which consists of a slice of bread soaked in milk, honey and cinnamon, which is finally coated in egg and fried in a frying pan with oil.
Or the buñuelos de viento, equally popular and which consist of little balls of dough that are fried or baked, and which are prepared with wheat flour, eggs and sugar.
The sweets that we provide below are traditional for Holy Week and are typical of the Andalusia area and some such as the pestiños from Andalusia and Extremadura. The donuts are typical of many regions of Spain; they are made at Easter and also to taste throughout the year.
Pestiños
Pestiños are typical sweets from Andalusia and Extremadura. Depending on the area in which the recipes are made, they may be different. They are traditional on these Holy Week dates, and they are easy to make.
They are prepared with flour dough that is fried, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and soaked in honey. Although they are traditional at Easter, they are also prepared to taste them at Christmas.
Ingredients:
- Half a kilo of flour.
- 125 grams of sugar.
- 125ml of olive oil (for the dough).
- 125ml of white wine.
- Half sachet of yeast.
- A stick of cinnamon.
- The skin of an orange without the white parts.
- A teaspoon of anise grain.
- 3 nails.
- A teaspoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of sugar to mix.
- The grated skin of a lemon.
- A pinch of salt.
- Sunflower oil or olive oil for frying.
- Honey.
Elaboration:
- We put the oil to heat and when it is hot we aromatize it with the cinnamon stick and the orange peel
- Next, with a soft fire, we aromatize the oil,
- Remove from the heat and let the oil cool down.
- When the oil is cold we extract the cinnamon stick, the skin of the orange.
- Mix the cloves, anise grains, the grated skin of the lemon, the wine and the oil.
- Stir to mix well and add the salt, flour, yeast and sugar and make dough.
- Once the dough is made, with the help of the rolling pin we extend it, so that we have thin dough left.
- We are cutting the dough in the form of squares and to form the pestiños we fold the two of the ends inwards.
- We will press the tips well so that they are well stuck, so they will not open while we fry them.
- We put the flavored oil on the fire to heat with high heat.
- Once the oil is very hot, fry the pestiños, browning them on both sides.
- We cover a plate with a napkin or absorbent paper and we put the pestiños on it.
- We make the mixture of sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle the pestiños, you have to sprinkle them while hot.
Let cool to serve.
We will present the pestiños dipped in honey.
Pan flowers
Pan flowers are also known by other names such as pan fruits, chips or fried flowers. They are typical of the area of Andalusia and traditional in the confectionery of Holy Week.
They are very easy to make and are prepared with flour, eggs, milk or water with which dough is made that is then fried, with an iron mold in the shape of a flower and that is where their name comes from because of their shape, they are delicious while crispy. They are presented accompanied by a good splash of honey or syrup.
Ingredients:
- 175 grams of flour.
- 3 eggs.
- ¼ liter of whole or skimmed milk.
- A teaspoon of anise grain.
- The grated skin of a lemon.
- 90 grams of white sugar.
- A pinch of coarse salt.
- Sunflower oil or virgin olive oil mild flavor.
- A tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon powder to sprinkle.
Elaboration:
- We start by preparing the dough.
- In a bowl, beat the eggs well, add the sifted flour, the milk, the sugar, the grated skin of the lemon, the aniseed grains and beat well, we can help ourselves with a mixer.
- The consistency of the dough should be liquid.
- We put the dough in a tray or container with enough width to be able to put the flower mold.
- We heat the oil, and once it is very hot, put the flower mold in the pan and heat it well.
- Then we place the hot mold inside the flour dough so that it takes the shape of a flower, only that it is filled halfway with dough.
- Introduce the mold with the dough into the pan and cook the flower over high heat, making a slight movement in the mold so that the flower loosens.
- Once the flower is detached, we will brown it first on one side and then on the other.
- Put absorbent paper or a napkin on a plate and place the fried flower on the plate.
- Repeat the same step with the rest of the dough until all the flowers are finished.
- Always remembering to heat the mold.
- Once we have fried all the flowers, we make a mixture with the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle the flowers.
- When presenting the fried flowers we can accompany them with a splash of honey or with a sugar syrup.
Anis donuts
Fried flour donuts are typical sweets in many regions of Spain and are traditional sweets at Easter.
The donuts are made with flour and the classic donuts are fried donuts, although they are also made in other flavors, aniseed, orange or lemon. Although donuts are traditional at Easter, we can also taste them throughout the year, for breakfast, snack or dessert.
Ingredients:
- Half a kilo of pastry flour.
- 3 tablespoons of baking powder,
- 4 eggs.
- 50 grams of butter.
- 50ml whole or skimmed milk.
- 150 grams of white sugar.
- The zest of the skin of a lemon,
- A teaspoon of anise grain.
- A pinch of nutmeg,
- Salt.
- 50ml of mild-flavored olive oil to make the dough.
- Olive oil to fry the donuts.
- Icing sugar to dust the donuts.
Elaboration:
- Beat the eggs with the sugar well until they rise.
- Add the grated lemon peel, the anise grains, the milk and the nutmeg to the beaten eggs and beat everything well.
- Add the oil, beat and also incorporate the yeast, and the sifted flour and knead.
- Sprinkle flour on the counter to prevent the dough from sticking.
- We knead and when it reaches the desired texture we form a ball, cover it well with transparent film and let the dough rest for 2 hours in the fridge.
- Remove the ball of dough from the fridge.
- We put a little oil on the counter so that the dough does not stick and we form the donuts.
- We divide the dough in the form of churros and unite the ends.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan and when it is hot, fry the donuts, browning first on one side and then on the other.
- We cover a plate with a napkin or absorbent paper and we put the donuts so that the excess oil drains.
- Let cool and when serving, sprinkle with icing sugar.
Fried donuts with orange liqueur
The fried donuts with orange liqueur are one more variant to make the donuts.
Ingredients:
- 750 grams of sifted flour.
- A sachet of baking powder.
- 3 eggs.
- A teaspoon of anise grain.
- The zest of an orange peel.
- The juice of one orange.
- Half a glass of orange liqueur.
- 100 grams of sugar.
- 125ml whole or skimmed milk.
- 25ml of mild olive oil or sunflower oil to make the dough.
- Sunflower oil to fry the donuts.
- A pinch of salt.
Elaboration:
- Separate the yolks from the whites reserve the whites and beat the yolks well until they turn whitish.
- Add the milk, the grated orange peel, the sugar, the anise grains, the orange juice, the orange liqueur, the oil and beat well, set aside to whip the egg whites until stiff.
- Once the point of snow is reached, we incorporate them little by little into the mixture that we had reserved.
- Add the salt, yeast, sifted flour and knead.
- Once the dough is formed, we form a ball with it and cover it with transparent film.
- Reserve the ball of dough in the refrigerator to rest for about 2 hours.
- We take the dough out of the fridge, spread the dough, take pieces and shape them into churros that we join at the ends and cut to form the donuts.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan and when it is hot, fry the donuts.
- We brown on both sides.
- We cover a plate with absorbent paper or napkins and we put the donuts so that the oil drains.
- Let cool and present them with icing sugar sprinkled on top.
