Spanish Donut Recipe – Buñuelos de Viento

Sunday morning breakfasts should always be a treat, and one to take a little time cooking for.

This morning hubby and I first decided (as he didn’t have to rush off for work for once!) that we would make some thick, creamy Spanish hot chocolate for breakfast.  We then realised we would have nothing to dip in that chocolate, so he suggested we make buñuelos.  Not the healthiest breakfast in the world, but in the immortal words of Joey Tribbiani; if you’re going to do something wrong, do it right!.

Buñuelos de viento are the Spanish name for donuts or fritters.  Traditionally deep fried little balls of dough, only slightly sweet so as to not be overly sickly when dipping them in the hot chocolate.  They are very similar to churros, so if you have tried those you’ll have a pretty good idea of how these taste.  We substituted caster sugar for coconut sugar which made the batter a darker, cinnamon colour.

My father-in-law trained in a bakery a few years ago, making all types of breads and pastries and this recipe was one of those that he picked up.  He showed me how to make them at home in Spain and bought me a ladle with the end in the shape of a ring donut.  This is what I used to make our buñuelos pictured, but as I said before you can just take spoonful’s of the mixture into the hot oil to be even more traditionally Spanish!

If you would like to make these yourself, here’s the recipe!

Ingredients (makes 12 ring donuts):

• 1 cup of plain flour
• 1/2 cup of caster sugar
• A pinch of Bicarbonate of Soda
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Whisk all of the ingredients in a bowl until the batter resembles the consistency of thick custard.

Meanwhile, heat a deep fryer of oil on a medium heat (if the oil is too hot, your buñuelos will burn on the outside and be undercooked in the middle).  The oil is hot enough when you drip in a small amount of the batter and it begins to bubble and fry almost immediately.

• If using the buñuelo ladle; spoon the batter into a piping bag, dip the ladle into the hot oil to grease the utensil.  Pipe the batter twice around the ladle base then dip into the oil.  The donut will then release itself from the ladle when it has started to cook.

The donuts/fritters will float up while cooking.  Flip them over after a couple of minutes when they should be golden.  When golden on both sides, tip the buñuelos onto a plate with kitchen towel to drain off the excess oil.  Cook only 2/3 donuts or 4/5 fritters at a time to ensure each one has enough space to cook properly.

 

 

 

Serve the buñuelos with a sprinkle of sugar or cinnamon sugar, or have them plain with hot chocolate, tea or coffee!

Enjoy!