Bunuelos – A Dominican doughnut
with a Spanish heritage

Bunuelos (buñuelos as it is really spelled in Spanish, is frequently mis-spelt buñelos/bunelos) are another favorite Dominican food that was essentially imported from typical Spanish cuisine. They are a type of doughnut and are often cooked and served on special occasions such as weddings, or for Saints days and at Christmastide for instance. At these times the deliciously naughty, light, fried dough-balls are served rolled in sugar, or perhaps on a syrup made with sugar, or a vanilla cream. Bunuelos/Buñuelos are not for the diet conscious!

The dough for bunuelos/buñuelos is reasonably easy to produce in a fashion rather akin to choux pastry in French cookery, except that the balls of dough are fried rather than baked!

Put the water, butter, sugar and salt in a small pan and setting it on the hob on a medium to low light bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Take care as the combination of hot fat and water is a nasty mixture to get on your skin! So don't let it get to a vigorous boiling point so it doesn't start to bubble and splash.

Take it off the heat and immediately but carefully add the flour and stir it in well using a wooden spoon. If the mix is too sloppy, be prepared to add a little more sifted flour and stir it in, in small quantities to avoid lumpiness, but ensure that you do not form too firm a dough. The consistency should be like a soft putty.

Replace the pan on the hob on a low heat and keep stirring round to 'cook out' the flour somewhat. Do this for around 3 minutes, ensure that the mix is evenly heated. It is likely to look like a fairly greasy, dark yellow, but smooth-looking ball shaped mass by now.

Remove from the heat and put the dough into a god sized Pyrex/heat proof glass/ceramic bowl (or similar). Make a well in the center with the spoon and add one egg yolk at a time, mix in thoroughly before adding the next yolk, until all four are incorporated.

If you prefer to use a food-processor, let the bunuelos/buñuelos dough cool slightly then place in the processor bowl and give it a moderate speed mix for about 10 seconds and a fast mix for a further 10 seconds. Then add all the yolks in one go and beat for about 30 seconds or until everything is well incorporated.

The mix should be quite soft, but still firm enough to be divided into smaller balls that hold their shape, about 2.5 cms in diameter. These should be dropped into hot oil (about 400 degrees F) that is deep enough for the bunuelos/buñuelos to float in, and be gently turned so that the 'puff up' and cook to an even golden brown.

Typically in the Dominican Republic you might fry the bunuelos/buñuelos in peanut oil, which is widely available, and realtively cheap. But you can obviously use a good vegetable oil, or maybe sunflower oil if you prefer.

Cook the bunuelos/buñuelos a few at a time so as not to crowd the pan, bear in mind they will swell to almost twice their original size. When they are cooked use a 'holey' spoon to gently lift them out onto kitchen paper to drain and absorb an excess oil. The bunuelos/buñuelos should be hollow inside and quite light and crisp. The mixture should make around 20-24 balls. After a few moments on the kitchen paper,tip the do'nuts onto a plate of caster sugar and roll them round to coat evenly, serve while still warm if possible ...OR ALTERNATIVELY...

To make a sugar syrup to accompany the bunuelos/buñuelos simply take:

Remove the zest from the lime by working your way round the fruit against a medium sieve. Take the fine peelings of lime zest and plunge it into a pan of gently boiling water. It is handy to lower the zest in a sieve that fits the pan so you can easily etrieve it after a couple of minutes and refresh it quickly under cold water tap. Repeat this process once or twice more so that the thin strips of lime peel are softened.

Put the sugar and water into a pan and heat on the hob. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the cinnamon stick and blanched lime zest and, without any further stirring, bring the mix to a moderate boil until it thickens to a syrupy consistency. Keep an eye on the temperature using a sugar thermometer and it should reach 220-225 degrees F. Leave the cinnamon stick in the syrup until it is quite cool, this will allow the flavor to really develop.

To serve - Pour a pool of syrup onto the service plate. Place bunuelos/buñuelos in a pyramid like pile in the center of the syrup an dust the whole lot with the icing sugar. You can place the icing sugar in a fine sieve and, holding it a few inches above the 'pyramid', tap the side of the sieve gently covering the bunuelos/buñuelos as if with a fine snow. Serve the dish immediately so that the bunuelos/buñuelos don't go too soggy!