Cuban Christmas Pastry

Glenn Lindgren: Buñuelos are a light, fried pastry. Cubans like to eat them during the holidays with a special syrup.

Jorge Castillo: They are also good dusted with cinnamon sugar, or powdered sugar.

2 cups ground yuca

2 cups ground malanga

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 egg yolks

1 cup flour sifted

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons anise flavoring

Vegetable oil for frying

Bring about five quarts of water to a rolling boil. Peel the yuca and malanga and place in boiling water; add salt and lemon juice. Reduce heat to medium and cook until soft, but not too mushy – about 15 to 20 minutes.

Drain and dry with paper towels. Let cool. Remove any woody parts from the center of the yuca.

Use a food processor or food mill and grind the cooked yuca and malanga very fine. Again, watch out for any woody parts!

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Beat the egg yolks until frothy and blend in the salt/flour/baking soda mixture. Add the ground yuca, malanga, and the anise flavor and blend. The dough should be thick enough to shape into figure eight shapes (add a more flour if needed to reach the proper consistency.)

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Use your lightly greased fingers to roll out about a tablespoon of dough into a long strand, making a rope about eight inches long. With a twist of the wrist, turn the dough rope into a figure eight.

Deep fry the dough pieces in hot oil (375°F) until golden brown, light and fluffy. Serve with syrup (following), or sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Serves: Makes approximately two dozen.

SYRUP

2 cups sugar

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup water

1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

Bring all ingredients, except vanilla, to a boil and cook, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and let simmer until the syrup thickens to the consistency of a good maple syrup – about 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from heat, remove cinnamon stick and stir in vanilla.