Canarian Recipes: Trucha de Batata
Sweet potato dumplings are a delightful dessert and a cherished homemade recipe often made for Christmas. No-one seems to now why it has a “fishy” name. It’s a pastry but with a sweet filling.
Ingredients for the Dough
- 1 kg of flour
- 200 g of sugar
- 200 g of butter or lard
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder (Royal type)
- Grated lemon zest
For the Filling
- 1.5 kg of yellow sweet potatoes
- 50 g of almonds
- Grated lemon zest
- Cinnamon
- 2 whole eggs
- Anise seed (a little)
- 3 tablespoons of sugar, plus extra for decoration
Making the Dough
- Knead the flour with the lard and a little butter until the dough no longer sticks to your hands.
- Allow it to rest for a while.
- Then, roll out the dough with a rolling pin and use a bowl or cutting ring to form the circles, which will be ready for filling.
Preparing the Filling
- Cook the sweet potatoes in salted water until soft. Peel them and mash well with a fork.
- Next, add the peeled and ground almonds, cinnamon, a little anise liqueur, and mix thoroughly.
- Taste the mixture to see if it needs any additional ingredients.
- Once the filling is ready, start filling the circles; place the filling from the centre towards the front and fold them in half, creating a crescent shape.
- Seal the edges with a fork, decorating the edge to resemble a shell.
- Fry them in hot oil, and as they darken, remove them from the pan.
- Drain excess oil by placing them on absorbent paper.
- Once drained, arrange them on trays and sprinkle with sugar on top.