Suspiros de Monja Conventuales

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4-quart cazo or Dutch oven with tall sides
• •Wooden spoon
• •Pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star or plain round tip
• •Deep-fry thermometer
• •Kitchen spider or slotted spoon
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan
• •Talavera poblana platter for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the station

   Cut 30 to 36 small squares of parchment, each about 3 inches wide. Set a wire rack over a sheet pan. Fit a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch star tip or plain round tip. Sift the azúcar glas now, before the fat is hot and your attention belongs to the pot.

2. 2

   Cook the paste

   Combine the water, butter, granulated sugar, salt, and limón criollo zest in a heavy saucepan or small cazo. Bring it to a full simmer over medium heat, just until the butter melts and the surface moves actively. Add the sifted flour all at once. Stir hard with a wooden spoon until the dough gathers into one smooth mass and leaves a thin film on the bottom of the pot, 2 to 3 minutes. That cooking removes the raw flour taste and gives the eggs a structure to hold.

   Do not sprinkle in the flour slowly. Add it in one shot and stir. If you add it timidly, you get lumps, and lumps in this dough fry into heavy spots.
3. 3

   Beat in eggs

   Transfer the hot paste to a mixing bowl and let it cool for 5 minutes. It should be warm, not so hot that it cooks the eggs on contact. Beat in the eggs one at a time with a wooden spoon or mixer on low speed. After each egg, the dough will look broken. Keep beating until it comes back together before adding the next. The finished paste should be glossy, thick, and able to hold a ridge from the spoon before slowly falling in a heavy V.

   Egg sizes lie. If the dough is too stiff to pipe after four eggs, beat one extra egg in a small bowl and add it by teaspoons only. Do not pour in a whole fifth egg and blame Puebla for the mess.
4. 4

   Heat the fat

   Pour the clean pork lard or neutral oil into a deep heavy pot to a depth of about 2 1/2 inches, leaving at least 3 inches of headspace. Heat to 350F. Keep the fat between 340F and 355F while frying. Too cool and the suspiros drink fat. Too hot and the outside browns before the center sets. No me vengas con atajos.

5. 5

   Pipe the fritters

   Spoon the dough into the pastry bag. Pipe small rosettes or short 1 1/2-inch lengths onto the parchment squares. Work small. This is not a doughnut. Each piece needs enough space to puff, turn, and cook through before the ridges darken.

6. 6

   Fry in batches

   Lower 5 or 6 piped pieces into the fat, dough side down, holding the parchment by one corner. After 10 to 15 seconds, the dough will release; pull the parchment away with tongs. Fry, turning gently with a spider, until the suspiros are puffed, firm at the ridges, and pale gold, 3 to 4 minutes. Break one open from the first batch. The center should be hollow and set, not wet with egg.

   If the outside is dark before the inside is set, lower the heat. If the fritters sink and come up greasy, raise it. Frying is attention, not guessing.
7. 7

   Drain and dust

   Lift the suspiros to the wire rack and let them drain for 5 minutes. Do not bury them in paper towels where the bottoms soften. While still slightly warm, sift azúcar glas over them generously. Wait 2 minutes and dust again. The first coat clings. The second coat gives you the white convent tray.

8. 8

   Serve on talavera

   Pile the suspiros on a talavera poblana platter and serve at room temperature. They should feel light when you pick them up, with crisp ridges and a tender hollow center. Set them on the table with coffee, hot chocolate, or nothing at all. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.

Chef Tips

• •This is Puebla's convent sweet, not a meringue. In other countries, 'suspiros' can mean egg-white cookies. Here you are making fried choux-like fritters. The name matters because the technique matters.
• •For the older convent flavor, use fresh, clean manteca de cerdo. For the modern Larousse-codified home version, neutral frying oil is acceptable. Do not use leftover savory lard. Sweet fritters reveal bad fat immediately.
• •Use limón criollo if your mercado has it. Outside Mexico, a yellow lemon gives the closer aroma than a large Persian lime. It is a substitution, not an upgrade.
• •Keep the pieces small. Large suspiros look generous and fry badly. The outside sets, the center stays damp, and then you learn why the señoras made them in small bites.
• •Azúcar glas goes on after draining, not straight out of the fat. If you dust too early, it melts into a paste. Give them a few minutes. Patience is also an ingredient.

Advance Preparation

• •Cut the parchment squares and sift the azúcar glas one day ahead. Keep the sugar covered so it stays dry.
• •The finished dough can be held in the pastry bag, refrigerated, for up to 4 hours. Let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before piping so it softens enough to move cleanly through the tip.
• •Fried, undusted suspiros can sit uncovered at room temperature for up to 6 hours. Re-crisp in a 325F oven for 6 to 8 minutes, cool briefly, then dust with azúcar glas just before serving.
• •Once dusted, they are best the same day. Puebla's convent sweets may be patient in spirit, but fried dough has its limits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 28g)