Picarones

Method

1. Peel the sweet potato and squash and cut them into 3 cm cubes. Put them in a 18 cm pot with the water, aniseed and cinnamon stick, bring to the boil over high heat, then lower to medium heat and simmer for 20 min. They must be so soft a fork slides in with no resistance, or the dough will be lumpy.

   Add in this stepSweet potato 80 gButternut squash (or pumpkin) 80 gWater for cooking 700 mlWhole aniseed 1 tspCinnamon stick 1

   high heat→medium heat

2. Lift out the vegetables. Strain the cooking water to remove the spices and keep it. Mash the vegetables until completely smooth with no lumps (pushing them through a sieve is even better) and let them cool until just warm on your wrist, about 37 °C. In a small bowl, mix 3 tablespoons of the warm cooking water with the yeast and sugar and leave for 10 min until foamy. No foam at all means the yeast is dead: start again with fresh yeast.

   Add in this stepInstant dried yeast 1 tspSugar 1 tsp

3. In a large bowl, combine the mash, yeast mixture, flour and salt, and beat hard with a wooden spoon or your hand for 10 min. The dough should be very soft and sticky and stretch in long strands when you lift it. If it feels stiff, add the cooking water a tablespoon at a time. Don't add more flour, or the picarones will be heavy and hard.

   Add in this stepPlain flour 160 gSalt 1 pinch

4. Cover the bowl with cling film or a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place for 1 h 30 min, until roughly doubled and full of bubbles.

5. While the dough rises, make the syrup. Put the chancaca, water, orange peel, cloves and cinnamon in a 16 cm saucepan over medium heat, stir until the sugar melts, then simmer for 15 min, until it lightly coats the back of a spoon. It thickens as it cools, so don't overdo it. Boiling sugar syrup is extremely hot: never taste it from the spoon.

   Add in this stepChancaca (raw cane sugar; panela or dark brown sugar work) 140 gWater for the syrup 150 mlOrange peel (finger-length strips) 2Cloves 3Cinnamon stick (for the syrup) 1

   medium heat

6. Pour the oil into a deep 20 cm pot, at least 5 cm deep but no more than a third full, and heat over medium-high heat for 8 min to 180 °C. No thermometer? Drop in a little dough: it should sizzle at once and float up within 2–3 seconds. Never leave hot oil unattended and keep a lid within reach. If the oil catches fire, do not use water: cover it with the lid and turn off the heat.

   Add in this stepOil for deep-frying 700 ml

   medium-high heat

7. Set a bowl of lightly salted water beside you. Wet your hands, then shake off the drips (water splashing into the oil makes it spit). Pull off a golf-ball-sized piece of dough, push both thumbs through the middle to make a ring and lay it gently into the oil close to the surface. Use a wooden skewer to widen the hole and flip it once. Fry 3–4 at a time in batches (2 in total), 3 min per batch, until deep golden. Keep the heat at medium heat so the oil stays at 175–185 °C. Cut the first one open to check it is cooked and chewy right through.

   medium heat

8. Lift them out with the skewer or a slotted spoon and drain briefly on kitchen paper. Serve about 4 per person, drenched in warm syrup, straight away: picarones are best in the first minutes, while still crisp.