Sopapillas

Many years ago, I visited Detroit. While I was there, my hosts took me to an authentic Mexican restaurant. It was there that I had sopapillas for the first time.

Sopapillas are delicious, pillowy, sugar-coated puffs of goodness. The dough is simple to make, and easy to cook, even if you don't have an electric deep-fryer.

To set up a stove-top deep fryer, you'll need a heavy pot, preferably a cast-iron Dutch oven, and a candy or deep-fry thermometer. These thermometers have a clip on the back that allows you to keep the thermometer in the liquid while cooking. A slotted spoon for flipping and retrieving the sopapillas is also helpful.

From looking at others' descriptions and photos, sopapillas should puff up with a hollow center, and as you can see in my photo above, mine did not. I think I may have rolled my dough too thick. Mine still cooked through, and were still tender and delicious.

If you try these, and do get a hollow center, sopapillas are traditionally served with honey, which is drizzled into the hollow center. I simply drizzled honey over the top of each pastry.

Finally, do not pour your oil down the drain after you're done frying your sopapillas. Cool the oil down, then pour it into a glass or plastic bottle or jar. If you think you might want to re-use the oil, filter it through a coffee filter or cheesecloth, then freeze the oil (be sure to leave enough head room in the storage jar!). Otherwise, simply discard the oil in the storage jar.