Xuixos may sound Chinese, however, it’s one Catalan traditional desserts!
Xuixos are deep-fried pastries. Their pronunciation is “shoo-shoo”. They are from Girona, in the northeast of Catalonia. Xuixos are coated with a thin layer of crystallised sugar on the outside, whereas inside there is fluffy crema Catalana. Yummy!
Time: around an hour
Serving: 12
Ingredients
For crema:
- 190g of milk
- 60g of sugar
- 65g liquid cream
- small slice of lemon peel (without the white part)
- small slice of orange peel (without the white part)
- 2 egg yolks
- 30g of butter
- 20g of cornstarch
For dough:
- 1 egg
- a pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
- 15g of butter
- 45g of sugar
- 10g of baker’s yeast
- 250g of bread flour
- 90ml of milk
- oil to fry
Preparation
Start by preparing the cream, so that it has time to cool down until the rest is ready.
Then, place milk, cream, 35g of sugar, the orange skin and the lemon skin in a pan. Cook in low fire allowing it to boil. When the milk starts to boil, turn off the fire. Then, let the milk emulsify for 5 minutes, then strain it, removing the fruit peels. Mix the egg yolks with 30g of sugar, until they turn whiter and increase in volume.
Later, add the cornstarch and mix it until it is fully dissolved. Place the milk on the fire again. When it starts to boil, add the egg yolk mix while stirring, until the mix becomes a little thicker. Cut the butter in small pieces and add it to the mix, stirring until it comes undone. Cover the mix with saran wrap and save it for when the Xuixo is ready to be filled.
Now, we will prepare the dough.
Firstly, sieve the flour, salt, and sugar. Place them in a bowl. Warm a little bit of milk in the microwave, then pour the cornstarch in the milk and mix it until it comes undone. Then, pick up the bowl with the sieved ingredients. Make a hole in the middle and start pouring a beaten egg. Mix it all very slowly using a wooden spoon and add the milk, little by little. Add the butter, which should be at room temperature, mixing it all with your hands until it becomes even.
Cover the bowl with a piece of cloth and let it rest, until it doubles in size. This can take from 1 to 2 hours. When the dough is ready, place it on top of a surface that you have previously covered with flour. Flatten it with a rolling pin, until the dough is thin. Cut the dough into tall triangles.
It’s time to stuff them! Place some cream in each triangle and then roll the dough like you would in a croissant. Cover an oven tray with oven paper. Place the Xuixos on the tray and cover them with cloth, letting them rest from 30 minutes to an hour. dessert barcelonaWhen enough time has gone by, fry the Xuixos. Turn them frequently to avoid them being burned. The fire can’t be too high, because the Xuixos need cook a little bit on the inside. The Xuixos should look golden, not burnt on the outside.