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History

Rosquillas de San Froilán. Sort of like a cake donut, but a thousand times better. They are eaten in the Spanish region of León on the October 5 feast of San Frolián.

Who was San Froilán? Honestly, I don’t know. I’ll have to look it up. How long have rosquillas been associated with his feast day? Oh, just a couple of decades.

I surprised you, didn’t I? You expected them to be an ancient recipe. Well, the recipe was almost lost to history, it’s true, but these rosquillas are a recent invention with an interesting story.

In Spain, there are master pastry chefs, artisanal pastry chefs who specialize in traditional, regional pastries, who are as well versed in the history of pastry in a particular region as they are in the art and craft of pastry making. During his mandatory military service, one of these master pastry chefs from León was serving in Asturias, where he hung around and swapped a few techniques with a German master pastry chef who happened to be working there.

When he finished his service, the visiting chef worked in Germany for a while, and then came home to León. He tried selling rosquillas in León, but they didn’t catch on. He stopped making them. He liked the recipe though, so he included it in the textbook he wrote for his culinary school for pastry chefs.

A couple decades go by, and an Asturian master pastry chef comes to León and opens a line of fine pastry shops selling Asturian-style pastries (“Confitería Asturias“). Chefs at this level are always keeping up to date on each others’ work, so one day he’s looking through the recipes in the other chef’s textbook and discovers rosquillas. He adds them to the menu, and boom, they’re a hit. San Froilán is suddenly everybody’s favorite holiday.

This magical collaboration among German and Spanish chefs would have vanished altogether, if not for the good chef’s penchant for constant tinkering–and good record keeping, too!

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Ingredients

·       250 ml. whole milk

·       75 g. butter

·       3 eggs size M

·       150 g. flour

·       20 ml. white rum

·       1 pinch of salt

·       1 tablespoon sugar

·       Sunflower oil

·       For the glaze: 125 g. icing sugar

·       A few drops of lemon juice

·       2 tablespoons of water

Preparation

Preparation of the dough for the San Froilán doughnuts.

1.     In a saucepan, add the milk, a spoonful of sugar, a pinch of salt and the butter. Heat while stirring to combine all the ingredients.

2.     When it comes to the boil, add the flour (all at once). Mix thoroughly. The dough will gradually take consistency, until it comes away from the surface of the pan. This is the point we want to achieve. Remove it to a bowl and knead it with your hands. Leave the dough to rest, so that it can temper.

Once the dough is warm (and in the bowl), add the rum and the eggs one by one. Mix well, and repeat the process with the other 2 eggs. Finally, we will obtain a slightly sticky, smooth and shiny dough.

Now we have to transfer it to a piping bag, either a cloth piping bag or a disposable plastic piping bag. Use a thick nozzle. To make it easier, place the piping bag in a tall glass, and then add the batter until you have a good amount.

Cut out a large piece of baking paper. On it, with the piping bag, form circles of dough. Leave some space between them. Repeat the process until all the dough is finished. Cut out the paper around each doughnut.

Frying and final presentation of the San Froilán doughnuts

3.     Pour plenty of sunflower oil into a high, not too wide frying pan. Heat. When it gets hot (but without smoking), add the doughnuts, first with the paper side up. With the heat, the paper will come off. Turn the doughnuts over and continue frying until golden brown on both sides.

4.     Remove on absorbent kitchen paper. Set aside and leave to cool. As a final touch, we will make the typical glaze for doughnuts. Put the icing sugar in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of water and a few drops of lemon juice. Mix well, and in a short time the sugar glaze will be ready.

5.     Coat the doughnuts with the glaze. Leave to dry. A good option is to put them on the oven rack, so that they don't go soft.

Delicious, soft and spongy doughnuts. They will last for several days in perfect condition, accompanying after-dinner snacks and breakfasts. Store them in a tin or cover them with a clean cloth, so they will last longer.