Pumpkin and squash appear frequently in South American sweets - think creamy flan or picarones, Peru's free-form pumpkin doughnuts, served soused with syrup at street-side stalls. This is our version: instead of soaking them in syrup, we dust ours with icing sugar and cinnamon, and serve them with a rich dulce de leche cream.
Spiced pumpkin fritters with dulce de leche cream
A twist on Peru's free-form pumpkin doughnuts, we dust ours with icing sugar and cinnamon then serve them with a rich dulce de leche cream.
- 20 mins preparation
- 20 mins cooking
- Serves 6 - 8
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Ingredients
- 300 gm peeled pumpkin, cut into 2cm cubes
- 80 gm melted butter or lard
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 500 gm plain flour (3⅓ cups)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon, plus extra for dusting
- Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
- Icing sugar, for dusting
Dulce de leche cream
- 300 ml pouring cream
- 100 gm dulce de leche (see note)
Method
Main
- 1Steam pumpkin until tender (10-15 minutes), then transfer to a bowl and mash. Cool briefly, stir in butter, sugar and egg yolk, then flour, baking powder, cinnamon and a pinch of salt and mix until a soft dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, knead until soft and silky, then cover loosely with a clean tea towel and rest for 30 minutes.
- 2Meanwhile, for dulce de leche cream, stir ingredients in a saucepan over medium-high heat until melted, then refrigerate until required.
- 3Heat oil in a deep saucepan to 180C. Roll out dough to 1cm thick and cut out 6cm rounds with a cutter. Make a hole in the centre of each, then deep-fry in batches, turning occasionally, until puffed and golden (2-3 minutes). Drain on paper towels, dust with icing sugar and cinnamon, and serve hot with dulce de leche cream for dipping.
Notes
Dulce de leche is a Spanish and Latin American caramel made with milk. It's available from Latin American and Spanish shops.