The mole from Guatemala is very similar to mole poblano, which is a chocolate and chili based sauce (over simplification of the ingredients). One huge difference is that mole poblano is a main dish with turkey or chicken; meanwhile Guatemalan mole is a dessert with fried plantains slices ladled with chocolate sauce or mole for short. Bon appetite!
We have to thank Erin, loyal and long-time reader from AntiguaDailyPhoto, for the buñuelos recipe you see below.
Erin shared with us the buñuelos recipe last year:
Making buñuelos at home can be a little bit tricky because the altitude will affect the dough. Having said that, don’t be afraid to try, it will be worthy!Bring to boil 1 cup of water and remove from heat. Optional: you might like to infuse the water with a cinnamon stick and a teaspoon of anise seeds; just be careful to remove them before adding the flour.
At once, add 1 cup of all purpose flour and mix vigorously with a wooden spoon (don’t use your hands, the mixture will be really hot).
When the water/flour mix is lightly warm, add 4 eggs, ONE AT A TIME, and continue mixing until everything is well incorporated and the dough looks velvety.
Cover the mixture with a damp kitchen towel and let it rest for at least a couple of hours (I prefer overnight).
In a deep pan or a fryer, at medium temperature, heat a large amount of vegetable oil; using 2 spoons, drop small portions of the dough (donuts holes is a good reference for the size), and let them fry until golden. One of the nicest features of the buñuelos is that they float and turn around in the oil by themselves!
Once the buñuelos are golden and crispy, remove them from the oil and let them rest over paper towels.
To serve the buñuelos the traditional way, make a syrup combining and bringing to a boil, equal amounts of water and sugar, a cinnamon stick and anise seeds. I prefer the syrup less sweet, so I use two parts of water and one part of sugar and right at the end, when I turn-off the heat, I like to add a cup of sherry or marsala.
In a small bowl, put 3 buñuelos (they look pretty in trios) and pour over about 1/2 cup of the warm syrup.
Enjoy!
Oh December, or the dry season for the matter, is full of Guatemalan comforting foods; mostly sweets like buñuelos, torrejas, mole, camote, chilacayote and higos. Perhaps, the fact that the dry season brings forth the low temperatures, around 6C/43F, courtesy of the cold winds blowing from the great white north (home to Manolo, the provocateur {his words}) that having something hot and sweet to warm up seems only logical.
If you’re not in Guatemala now, but would like to have some Guatemalan comfort foods, please pay a visit to AntiguaFC.com where Amanda can prepare a sweet combo and ship it to your home or office.
Come back tomorrow for the recipe for making buñuelos at home, courtesy of long-time reader and friend Erin.
I have said it often and I even declared it as irrefutable fact: the best place to have ice cream in Antigua Guatemala has to be the Plaza Mayor (main plaza), better known as Parque Central. So, it comes as no surprise that there are seven ice cream shops within one block from parque central; maybe more. Still, if you don’t believe me ask these three happy-ice-cream-eating nuns.
One more thing, remember that the ice cream in Guatemala is unbelievably delicious because it is the real McCoy.
If you don’t know the Guatemalan artists Ricardo Arjona and Gaby Moreno this is your chance to catch them both doing a duet arrangement. They are the most famous and popular Guatemalan artists abroad. (more…)
Ayode en dulce or ayote en miel is among the most popular desserts for Día de Todos los Santos (Feast of All Souls) and Día de los Difuntos (Day of the Dead). Wondering what ayote is? well, ayotes are pumpkins. I bet you didn’t know that Guatemala is the cradle for pumpkins. The Guatemalan pumpkin is about the size of medium-size melon and it is green inside.
Here’s a simple recipe to prepare ayote en dulce.
Ingredients:
Preparation:
Wash well and break the ayote in small pieces. Put all the ayote pieces, cinnamon, ginger root, panela pieces and allspice in a pot and add enough water without covering ayote. Boil until the ayote is soft and the syrup has been absorbed by the ayote.
Panela is an unrefined food product, typical of Central and South America, which is basically a solid piece of sucrose and fructose obtained from the boiling and evaporation of sugarcane juice.
Bon appetite!
Here are other Guatemalan desserts that are prepared for the season:
So, what would you like for postre (dessert) today?
Here are two choices based on fruits very popular in Guatemala: Bananas and Peaches. Bananas, of course, can be found in Guatemala all year long; that’s just one of the benefits of having been a Banana Republic. By the way, the bananas are tempura banana slices.
Peaches, on the other hand, are seasonal and now it’s the season. Both desserts have vanilla ice cream and yerba buena (Guatemalan mint) with a touch of strawberry mermelada.
The food served at fair stands is becoming more colorful. Not too long ago I showed you black pupusas at Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which are very unusual.
If you never seen a photo of the Guatemalan torrejas, follow the white rabbit to Torrejas, Torrejas, Anyone? to get an idea of how torrejas are normally served. Now, compare the photo from the link against today’s photo of torrejas and you will understand the above statement.
Okay, let’s take a sweet tour through the Guatemalan comfort fair foods. Please, make sure you have some napkins close by; we don’t want to have any salivating accidents over the computer equipment. 
What other dishes available at the fairs should I include in the Guatemalan comfort food list?
Algodones are another very popular Christmas comfort candy found in town fair, church atriums and around plazas and parks. Algodón is the word we use in Guatemala for cotton candy or candyfloss; algodones in plural.
Since I was wondering for how long cotton candy has been a tradition in the Guatemalan fairgrounds I did a little search and this is what Wikipedia has:
Cotton candy was first recorded around Mid-18th Century. At that time, spun sugar was an expensive, labor-intensive endeavor and was not generally available to the average person.[4] Machine-spun cotton candy was invented in 1897 by William Morrison and John C. Wharton and first introduced to a wide audience at the 1904 World’s Fair as “Fairy Floss”[5] with great success, selling 68,655 boxes at the then-high $0.25, half the cost of admission to the fair. Fairy floss was renamed to “cotton candy” in the 1920s.[6]
Tootsie Roll of Canada Ltd. has a bagged product called Fluffy Stuff that it claims was introduced at the 1893 World’s Fair.[7]…continue reading at Wikipedia
When was the last time you had cotton candy?
Guatemalan buñuelos are kind like round French toast and they are served with a lot hot syrup made from water, sugar, anís (anise), cinnamon sticks, all-spice just to name the main ingredients.
Buñuelos are one of the most popular Guatemalan comfort foods for December. If you follow the white rabbit, you can browse some of the other comfort foods found at town fairs in December; of course, some of these comfort foods are found all year round.
I especially like the sweets buñuelos and torrejas, although I don’t have a sweet tooth. However, with very the low temperatures, around 6C/43F, we’re experiencing in La Antigua Guatemala lately, even I can’t complain about having something hot and sweet to warm up.
Since Manolo was complaining about the use of the word “feast” in the article entitled Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe since he believed feast only refers to banquet or something you eat. Anyway, I explained to him that “Feast” is the word they use in English for this kind of catholic celebrations. Also, I mentioned that if you came to the atrium of Iglesia de La Merced on December 12, you would FEAST on all the wonderful Guatemalan December foods available there.
Corbatas are fried flour-based crunchy dessert soaked in syrup or honey. Corbatas take their name from the shape they are cooked into. I believe corbatas are known as molletes in Mexico, which are not at all like the Guatemalan molletes.
When was the last time you had corbatas?
I posted a photo showing some of the Guatemalan sweets on November 1. Today, I am showing you the booth of the shop where I bought the candies for the Day of the Dead altar. This shop is located inside the mercado, market, municipal and the only reference I can give you to find it is that it is a few steps from the entrance that takes you to the comedores (diners).
I am beginning to believe that in Guatemala we make everything colorful, don’t you agree?
In Guatemala we celebrate Día de Todos Los Santos (All Saints Day) on November 1 and Día de Los Fieles Difuntos (Day of the Dead) on November 2. For these holidays Guatemalans prepare a very special once-a-year meal that goes by the name of fiambre. Guatemalans also spend time with the family at the cemetery remembering their dead. They also fly kites to help unite the dead with the living. In Sumpango and Santiago Sacatepéquez they even fly giant kites over the cemeteries.
Since I have covered in previous years the giant kites of Guatemala and the colorful fiambre dish, I decided to share with you the Guatemalan sweets that are also very popular as desserts to take to the cemetery. However, you can find most of these traditional Guatemalan sweets through out the year; especially in La Antigua Guatemala.
All Saints Day Bonus: I will send today’s photo as signed 4×6 post card with Guatemalan stamps to the first person that can correctly identify at least ten of the Guatemalan sweets above. Good luck to you all!
Okay, today I only have dessert for you. I am sharing two videos I found on how to prepare rellenitos de platano con frijoles (stuffed plantains with beans) at home.
The first video is in English and it looks like it was shot in the U.S. because of the ingredients.
The second video is in Spanish and belongs to a series of videos shot to illustrate the Recetas de Margoth blog, which I believe will be a great resource for people looking for recipes from Guatemala. Here’s Margoth recipe for rellenitos.
Don’t ever say I don’t share the good finds with you! (more…)
Rudy, this site is a great escape, a relevant commentary, and a great documentary all in one. I think your different and unusual photographs are fantastic - an extraordinary view of everyday life... —Eric
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