Pumpkin Fritters Recipe, Traditional Valencian Buñuelos
Pumpkin Fritters Recipe, Traditional Valencian Buñuelos. These are very popular in the Valencian region especially during fiestas. They are a small doughnut type snack, crispy on the outside and light and fluffy inside, with a pumpkin flavour.
These would be a perfect treat for Halloween.
Ingredients
700g roasted pumpkin - You can use any type of pumpkin but here in Spain they have a certain type usually labelled ‘calabaza para asar’ (pumpkin for roasting) in the supermarkets.
700g strong flour
50g fresh yeast
500ml warm water
500ml oil for frying
Sugar for coating
Pumpkin Fritters Recipe
Method
Roast the pumpkin - Cut the pumpkin in half and place in an oven at 150c for 1 ½ to 2 hours, or until the pumpkin is soft. Set the pumpkin aside to fully cool down. If you don’t want to roast a whole pumpkin, you can also boil them or use ready-made and sliced pumpkins from the shop.
Once the pumpkin has cooled down, remove the seeds and scoop out the flesh, place in a deep bowl. Mash with a potato masher or use a hand blender until smooth.
Pour half (250ml) of warm water in a large bowl.
Crumble 50g of fresh yeast into the water and stir with a whisk until fully dissolved.
Add half of the flour into the water and yeast mixture. Stir until all the liquid is mixed with the flour. Pour in the rest of the water and flour. Stir well.
Add in the pureed pumpkin to the mixture. Stir again. The mixture should resemble a thick batter, not a dough.
Cover the mixture with cling film, put in a warm place and allow to rise or double in size. This should take around an hour to an hour and a half.
Heat the oil in a deep pan or wok. You can see if the oil is ready to be used by putting a wooden stick in the middle, if there are bubbles then it's hot enough to use.
Arrange your workspace so that you have the bowl of buñuelo mixture and a bowl of cold water next to you. The cold water is used to wet your hands so that the mixture doesn't stick while you're handling it. This stage can get a bit messy.
Dip your hand into the cold water and get a handful of mixture. Shape it in a ball. A traditional buñuelo is round with a small hole in the middle. You can do this by taking a ball of dough and putting your index finger through the centre, once shaped drop into the hot oil.
The buñuelos will take a couple of minutes to cook. When they are golden brown, take them out and set aside on a plate or tray lined with paper towels.
When all done sprinkle with granulated sugar and serve hot with thick hot chocolate or try the sauce below. Enjoy!
For the sauce
200g bar dark chocolate, not too bitter, broken into chunks
100ml double cream
100ml whole milk
3 tbsp golden syrup
½ tsp vanilla extract, if you have some
Put all the sauce ingredients into a pan and gently melt together, stirring occasionally until you have a smooth shiny sauce. Keep warm on a low heat.
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