Recipe: Sopapillas from Dallas’ Parigi

By theadmin

When it comes to yeasted, fried breads, our country excels. Fry bread as an Indigenous staple; beignets in New Orleans, a flurry of jubilation and powdered sugar; doughnuts of all shapes and sizes. They each have their aficionados. But the sopapilla stands alone in specialness and rises to heights of chewy, airy glory.

In the Tex-Mex tradition, the fluffy pillows, burnished golden to mahogany, signal the end of a meal. They mark family celebrations as much as ordinary moments — a pleasure measured in yeast and sugar.

To me, they are tantamount to a wedding dress with pockets: infinitely more intriguing and graced with an airiness that makes them memorable.

And unlike some desserts that cobble or crumble, they are not an afterthought nor a treat made of scraps, even if their triangular or square shapes might suggest that they’ve been carved out of leftover dough. They are also not dainty: Don’t imagine petits fours but rather a dessert to be eaten with gusto.

Their very hollowness begs for adornment. You’ll find them most often dusted with cinnamon sugar and drizzled with honey. Some bakers refigure them into cheesecakes or top a small stack of them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. However you serve your sopapillas, they are sure to rise, so to speak, to the occasion.

What’s In a Name?

The origin of the word points to the European continent. By many accounts, the diminutive -illa was added to the word sopaipa, the term in Mozarabic (a medieval Spanish-Arabic dialect) that designated an olive oil-fried dough from Andalusia, a remnant from a time when Moorish influences from North Africa and Arabia mixed with Jewish influences. From Spain, the early sopaipa traveled to the New World, and the sopapilla as we know it is resolutely post-Columbian.

Reigning Pastries

Sopapillas were deemed the official state pastry of Texas from 2003 to 2005 (an honor it shared with the strudel).

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups warm water (90°F)
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons bacon fat, lard, or vegetable shortening
2-4″ Oil, to fry (depends on pan size)

Method:

Mix flour, fat source, and salt in a bowl until loose crumbs form. Slowly add the water and mix until incorporated into a smooth dough. Let stand for 20 minutes. On a floured cutting board, roll out dough (sprinkling with flour first) to 1/2-inch thickness. Heat frying oil in a large pot. Cut the dough into 3″x3″ squares and fry at 375 F until golden brown on both sides (about 2 to 3 minutes each side). The squares should puff up. Remove from oil and drain excess oil on paper towels or a wire rack. While still hot, toss in a bowl with plain sugar, cinnamon sugar, or cocoa powder.

Toppings:

Once cool, serve your sopapillas drizzled or topped with:

Dulce de leche
Raspberry coulis
Fresh fruit

The world is open to all possibilities at this point. Have fun!

These delicate puff pastries aren’t the only dessert that has made its way into Tex-Mex culture. Learn the tradition and creation of chocolate Day of the Dead sugar skulls for a confection that looks even better than it tastes.