Picarones
Picarones are Peru's answer to doughnuts, but far more interesting than any ordinary fried dough. These ring-shaped fritters are made from a yeast-leavened batter of mashed sweet potato and zapallo macre (a Peruvian squash), which gives them a distinctive golden color and a subtly sweet, earthy flavor. The batter is piped into hot oil in a circular motion, creating rustic rings that puff up into airy, crispy pillows. But the true star of the show is the chancaca syrup, a dark, aromatic sauce made by simmering raw cane sugar with orange peel, cinnamon, and cloves until thick and glossy. Picarones are a beloved street food dessert, sold from carts in parks and plazas across Lima, and are especially popular during October's Festival of the Lord of Miracles.
Ingredients
- 300 g sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
- 300 g butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
- 7 g active dry yeast
- 60 ml warm water
- 250 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon anise seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
- 250 g chancaca or piloncillo, chopped
- 200 ml water for syrup
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 whole cloves
- Peel of 1 orange, in large strips
Method
8 step-by-step instructions with timers and hands-free Cook Mode narration, in the OriginEats app.
- Portion scaling for any number of servings
- Auto-generated grocery list, grouped by aisle
- Add it to your weekly meal plan in one tap
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 320
- Protein
- 4 g
- Carbs
- 48 g
- Fat
- 12 g
