Orejas de carnaval? What’s that?

Their name means literally “carnival ears” and they are fried pastries that are made and eaten during carnival. Those thin layers of pastry are coated in cinnamon and sugar and they are very crunchy.

My mom and I make a huge batch of them each year and then we deliver them to our family. We got our recipe from Begoña 15 years ago (thank you!!) at least and we use it since then.

I wasn’t going to post this recipe, so my pictures are crappy and not styled ~ sorry about that!

Orejas de carnaval recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup light olive oil
• 1 cup natural orange juice
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• all purpose flour
• Sunflower oil, for frying
• white sugar and cinnamon, for coating the orejas

That’s the basic recipe and it makes a lot of orejas. If you want more, just double the recipe.

Process:

1. In a large bowl add: the beaten egg, olive oil, orange juice, salt, baking powder. Mix it lighly with a wisk.
2. Start adding flour and mix it untill you get a thick dough.
3. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it on a dusted table or countertop, adding more flour if needed, untill it doesn’t stick to your fingers anymore.
4. Let it rest, covered in plastic wrap, for 30 minutes.
5. Make small balls with the dough. I like to dust them lightly with flour.
6. Dust the table with flour.
7. Roll a batch of balls out using a rolling pin. The thinner, the better. I like to make mine small by cutting them in half (see picture) because they are easier to fry.
8. Heat the sunflower oil in a large frying pan. The orejas need to float in the oil:
9. Fry the orejas until golden and crispy.
10. Get them out of the oil, and place them in a plate that’s covered with a paper towel that will absorb part of the oil. Then, before they get gold, dust them with sugar and cinnamon.

I hope you enjoy my post! See you all in my next country life post. Greetings from Spain!!

~Rosana