Buñuelos Colombianos (Colombian Cheese Fritters)
Round, golden cheese fritters with a crisp shell and a light, airy, cheesy inside. A Colombian Christmas classic.
Recipe in testing: I'm cooking it in my TM7™ and will update the steps and the photo with my own.
Buñuelos are Colombia's beloved cheese fritters: perfectly round balls with a thin, crisp golden shell and a soft, airy inside full of salty cheese flavor. They are a must at Christmas next to natilla, and all year long they are a breakfast or afternoon snack with hot chocolate or coffee. At a party, they vanish while still warm.
The dough has no wheat flour: it is made with cheese, cornstarch and tapioca starch. The Thermomix® TM7™ grinds the cheese fine and kneads the dough smooth, which is the key to round buñuelos that do not crack. Then they fry in a deep pot on the stove at medium heat, where they puff up and turn themselves over.
Made in the Thermomix® TM7™
Buñuelos Colombianos (Colombian Cheese Fritters)
Makes: 12 buñuelos
- Prep20 min
- Cook30 min
- Total50 min
- Serves6
Ingredients
Instructions
- Place the cheese in the mixing bowl, chop 10 sec/speed 6, until it looks like fine crumbs, and scrape down the sides.
- Add the cornstarch, tapioca starch, sugar and baking powder and mix 10 sec/speed 4.
- Add the egg and 1 tbsp of the milk and knead 1 min/dough mode. The dough should be soft and smooth and should not stick to your hands. If it feels dry or crumbly, add the rest of the milk and knead 20 sec/dough mode more.
- Divide the dough into 12 portions of about 35 g and roll each one between your palms into a perfectly smooth ball with no cracks.
- Heat at least 7 cm (3 in) of oil in a deep pot on the stove to 160°C (325°F). Fry the buñuelos in batches of 4 to 6: they sink, then rise and usually roll over by themselves. Fry them for 7 to 10 minutes in total, turning them if needed, until puffed, round and deep golden.
- Drain them on paper towels and serve warm.
Tips
- Keep the oil at medium heat. If it is too hot, the buñuelos brown before they puff and can crack open or stay raw inside.
- Queso costeño is a firm, salty Colombian cheese sold at some Latin markets. Feta plus queso fresco is the usual swap in the US.
- Use a deep pot with plenty of oil: the buñuelos need room to float and turn.
- The shaped balls keep, covered, in the fridge up to 1 day. Buñuelos are best eaten the day they are fried.
