Buñuelos Stuffed With Cheese & Porcini Mushroom Pâté

Buñuelos are a popular snack in Spain. They are essentially puffed dough balls that are then normally filled with a sweet (cream or chocolate) mixture. As with so many dishes in Spain, the way they are prepared and the occasion that warrants them is different around the country. Traditionally, in many places, they are made to celebrate El día de todos los Santos (All Saints Day) on November 1st. In Valencia though for example, they are enjoyed around the festival of Saint Joseph on March 19th. Nowadays you’ll find them in many pastry shops from November right through Christmas.

Normally buñuelos are deep-fried, which seems right when they’re sweet. Savoury buñuelos are less common though, and in developing this dish we also choose to adapt the preparation so that instead of frying them you bake them in the oven. For our savoury filling we’ve chosen a seasonal ingredient for autumn – a pâté made from Porcini mushrooms – and paired that with a semi-hard cheese. Simple and easy to make with a delicious flavour, these make the perfect appetiser or snack.

Buñuelos stuffed with Cheese & Porcini Mushroom Pâté

• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Cuisine: Vegetarian

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 80ml water
• 100ml milk
• 5g salt
• 100g butter
• 100g flour (all purpose plain)
• 3 free range eggs
• 50g semi hard cheese (grated)
• 125g mushroom pâté
• freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. If required, first sift your flour and then set to one side. Then in a heavy bottomed saucepan heat your water, milk, butter and salt over a medium heat, removing from the heat when the butter has completely melted. Pour into a big mixing bowl.
2. Add your flour all at once, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until dough starts to come together.
3. Add your eggs one by one, stirring as you do, making sure that each one has been fully absorbed into the dough before you add your next one. You should end up with a wet dough that has a consistency a bit like a very thick cream.
4. Then using a wooden spatula, spoon your dough into a pastry piping bag. We used one with an open star nozzle sized 10mm. Take a baking tray lined with baking paper and make two or three rows, squeezing small amounts of your filling for each buñuelo in the row. Use circular motions when squeezing, getting smaller as you go and pulling up slightly at the end, a bit like as if filling an ice-cream cone. Don’t pack them too high as they will rise in the oven.
5. Put your baking tray into a preheated oven at 180C and bake for 20 minutes. Once done, remove and set aside on a wire rack to cool.
6. Meanwhile grate your cheese. When the buñuelos are cool, cut each one in half and fill with 1 tsp of mushroom pâté and 1tsp of your grated cheese.
7. You can also sprinkle a little cheese on the top of each one together with some cracked black pepper. Put back in the oven and bake for about 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
8. Serve and enjoy!