Equipment
Ingredients
Root Vegetable Dough
- 300 g yuca, peeled and roughly chopped
- 300 g malanga, peeled and roughly chopped
- 5 g kosher salt
- 1 egg, beaten
- 60 g all-purpose flour
- 2 g anise seeds, lightly crushed
Frying
- 1000 ml neutral oil
Anise Syrup (Almíbar)
- 250 ml water
- 200 g granulated sugar
- 100 g dark brown sugar
- 3 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 lemon peel strips
- 5 ml vanilla extract
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 141 kcal
- Protein
- 1 g
- Carbohydrates
- 34 g
- Fat
- 1 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sugar
- 19 g
- Sodium
- 135 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 0 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 0 g
- Cholesterol
- 12 mg
- Potassium
- 187 mg
- Calcium
- 18 mg
- Iron
- 0.5 mg
- Magnesium
- 11 mg
- Phosphorus
- 27 mg
- Zinc
- 0.3 mg
- Vitamin A
- 6 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 5 mg
- Vitamin D
- 0.1 mcg
- Vitamin E
- 0.1 mg
- Vitamin K
- 0 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.0 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 0.0 mcg
- Thiamin
- 0.02 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.03 mg
- Niacin
- 0.2 mg
- Folate
- 8 mcg
- Water
- 30 g
- Alcohol
- 0 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
Place the peeled yuca and malanga in a large pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil at 100°C/212°F and cook for 25 to 30 minutes until completely fork-tender.
Drain the vegetables thoroughly. Slice the cooked yuca pieces in half lengthwise and pull out the tough, woody core running down the center. While the vegetables are still steaming hot, press them through a potato ricer into a large mixing bowl to ensure a smooth, lump-free mash. Let cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, prepare the almíbar (syrup). In a medium saucepan, combine the water, granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, star anise pods, cinnamon stick, and lemon peel. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer at 90°C/195°F for 15 minutes until it reduces to a light syrup. Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla extract, and let cool slightly.
Once the root vegetable mash is cool, add the beaten egg, all-purpose flour, kosher salt, and crushed anise seeds. Knead the mixture by hand in the bowl until it forms a smooth, cohesive dough.
Lightly flour a work surface and your hands. Pinch off 45g portions of the dough and roll them into thin ropes, roughly 15cm long. Gently twist each rope into a figure-eight shape, pressing the overlapping ends together to seal them securely.
Fill a Dutch oven or deep fryer with neutral oil and heat to 175°C/350°F. Carefully lower the shaped buñuelos into the hot oil in batches, avoiding overcrowding. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes per side until deeply golden brown and crispy.
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the fried buñuelos to a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess oil. Serve warm, heavily drizzled with the prepared infused anise syrup.
Chef's Notes
- Ensure you remove the fibrous, woody core running down the center of the yuca immediately after boiling. Leaving it in will completely ruin the silky texture of the dough.
- Passing the hot root vegetables through a ricer or food mill is essential. A traditional hand masher will leave small lumps that prevent the dough from binding properly and can cause the buñuelos to break apart while frying.
- If the dough feels unmanageable, resist the urge to add massive amounts of flour, which will make the final product heavy. Instead, chill the dough for 20 minutes and generously oil your hands to shape them.
- The almíbar (syrup) should be the consistency of thin honey when warm. It will thicken considerably as it cools, so do not over-reduce it on the stove.
Storage
Refrigerator: 3 days — Store the syrup separately from the buñuelos to prevent sogginess.
Freezer: 1 month — Freeze uncooked shaped dough only. Do not freeze after frying.
Reheating: Reheat fried buñuelos in an oven at 180°C/350°F for 5-8 minutes until crispy before adding syrup.
Troubleshooting
Dough is entirely too sticky to roll or shape into figure-eights.
Cause: The root vegetables retained too much water during boiling, or the mash did not cool sufficiently before adding the egg.
Fix: Knead in additional flour, 10g at a time, until the dough becomes workable. Alternatively, lightly oil your hands rather than using flour for shaping.
Prevention: Drain boiled vegetables thoroughly and allow steam to evaporate completely before ricing.
Buñuelos are excessively dense and tough after frying.
Cause: Too much flour was added to the dough to combat stickiness, or the dough was over-kneaded.
Fix: Cannot be fixed once fried. Ensure they are well-soaked in the warm syrup to help soften the texture.
Prevention: Use the minimum amount of flour necessary to hold the dough together and stop kneading as soon as it is uniform.
Cultural Context
A beloved Cuban Christmas tradition, these buñuelos represent the brilliant culinary blending of the island. While Spanish colonizers brought the tradition of fried dough and anise-scented syrups, indigenous and enslaved African populations adapted the recipes using native, abundant root crops like yuca and malanga. The result is a distinctly Cuban holiday dessert, shaped like a figure eight to symbolize infinite good fortune for the coming year.
