Home made Roscos de Vino (wine donuts)

 

Roscos de vino are a typical Spanish Christmas sweet along with nougats, alfajores, polvorones and many other examples of Spanish pastries. There are different recipes for roscos de vino (literally are named wine donuts)  but this one that I show you is the one that I usually do because of its simplicity. The result is a very juicy and smooth donut.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 and a half cups of extra virgin olive oil (375 ml)*
• Half a cup of white wine (125 ml)
• 2 tablespoons brandy (pomace is best for these needs, but brandy or cognac are also ok)
• Zest from the skin of one lemon (optional)
• Anise seeds (1 teaspoon)
• White pastry flour (get ready at least 2 pounds)
• Icing sugar

* Do not try to use any other kind of oil. This recipe only works with olive oil.

First, pour the oil with the teaspoon of anise seeds into a saucepan. 

We heat slowly until it starts to smoke. Remove, strain to remove the anise, and when the oil cools, add the wine and brandy. If we want we can flavor with the zest of the lemon peel although it is not necessary.

Next we are going to add the sifted flour little by little without stopping mixing with some rods. There will come a time when the mixture will not admit more flour since it will be impossible to homogenize the mixture. At that moment we turn the saucepan on the kitchen table to knead for about fifteen minutes. I can't give any exact quantity of flour, just go on mixing until dough does not admit more.

Next we make some elongated cylinders that we cut to form a donut. We preheat the oven to 190 degrees (375 f), heat up and down, baking for twenty minutes. 

Once cold, sprinkle with icing sugar (some people prefer granulated sugar) and ready to eat. They are simply delicious.

Do not worry about the use of wine and liqueurs because the oven will make the alcohol evaporate.