Mexican Rosettes

The theme over at I Heart Cooking Clubs this week is Sweet Tooth, so here is some sweetness for ya...Mexican Rosettes! This recipe is from Rick Bayless's book Fiesta at Rick's and it titled Light-as-Air Rosette Pastries / Bunuelos de Viento in the book. I was surprised to see this recipe in Rick's book because I had always thought of Rosettes as a Scandinavian treat, not realizing they were also popular in Mexico.

I love rosettes. The irons are a novelty to me and I enjoy the different shapes and sizes. I have 12 of them currently. My most recent rosette iron purchase was a dinosaur shaped rosette iron. I decided to give it a go with Rick's recipe, along with a few other shapes. Now I have to warn you that if you are looking to make dinosaur rosettes, this is not an easy task. Rosettes are tricky as is, and this dinosaur one was quite the challenge. When I bought it I thought, oh, my kids like dinosaurs, this will be a fun shape to make for them. Well, my visions of a tray of cute little dino rosettes with green sugar sprinkles quickly went out the window when I started using this one since it is just a really tough shape to do and the screw in point is off centered making it extra awkward to use.

 

I did succeed at a few of these, out of about 10 tries I got 3 good ones, since I have three kids I thought I'd stop myself right at 3 dinos and move on to other easier to make shapes.

Light-as-Air Rosette Pastries

adapted from Rick Bayless -- Fiesta at Rick's

3/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons anise seed (I used two whole star anise since I have a whole bunch of it)

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon sweet sherry

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Powdered sugar, for sprinkling

I made a powdered sugar/milk glaze to dip them in and added sprinkles

1. Flavor the milk. In a small saucepan, combine the milk, anise seed, and sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, swirling the pan to dissolve the sugar completely. Simmer 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and cool to lukewarm, about 5 minutes. Strain into a measuring cup; discard all but 1/2 cup.

2. Finish the batter. In a small bowl, whisk the egg and sherry until frothy, then whisk in the lukewarm milk, then the flour. Whisk just until combined, not until foamy.

3. Fry the bunuelos. In a heavy deep skillet or shallow saucepan, heat at least 1 and 1/2 inches of oil over medium until it reaches 365 degrees. (I used my electric skillet with temperature control dial.) Dip a rosette iron in the hot oil for half a minute or so to heat it (American-made cast aluminum ones heat much quicker than the rolled metal Mexican ones), then remove, shaking as much oil as possible back into the pan. Dip the iron into the batter, making sure to leave the top 1/8 inch uncoated so that you'll be able to slip the fried pastry from the mold. Remove the mold from the batter and immediately lower it into the hot oil. Fry until crisp, about 50 seconds. While it's still submerged, gently tap the iron to release the pastry. Remove the iron. Let the pastry bob about in the oil for another 10 seconds to ensure that it is completely crisp and golden. Remove and lay the bunuelo upside down on paper towels to drain. Transfer to a serving platter, sprinkle with powdered sugar and you're ready to serve.

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I did not grow up with rosettes, I know some people have grandmas and moms that make them every year for the holidays and I bet that is a wonderful way to learn the tricks to these since they are a tricky treat to make.  I've found that after heating up the iron in the oil, once you dip it into the batter leave it there for 10 seconds sizzling to make sure the batter has adhered to the mold. I had a few slip right back into the batter as I was pulling out the mold after dipping if I did not wait long enough.

If anyone has any rosette tips please let me know!  I think they are a fun cooking activity and hope to get better making them. It seems like every time I pull them out to make them I am a little intimidated with good reason, but I would love for these to become a family tradition so I keep trying...

I made a quick glaze with powdered sugar and a teaspoon or two of milk and then dipped them into the glaze and quickly shook nonpareil sprinkles over the top.  These brightly colored sprinkles always make me think of cookies from a Mexican bakery.  Can't wait to share these with my family, it's been about a year since I pulled out the rosette irons, so they are in for a treat :)