Donas de Chocolate Mexicano Rellenas
By Pati’s Mexican Table
Inspired by her years living in Texas, Pati creates a series of dishes that combine her passion for Mexican cuisine and her favorite foods of America’s Lone Star State. Her oldest son Alan, who was born in Texas and is fully Tex-Mex, joins her in the kitchen.
Makes 12 mini donuts or 8 mini pancakes
INGREDIENTS
– 1 cup milk
– 2 Mexican Chocolate bars (each about 3 oz), cut into large chunks
– 1¼ cup all purpose flour
– 2 tablespoons sugar
– 2 teaspoona baking powder
– 1 teaspoon baking soda
– Pinch salt
– 3 tablespoons unsatled butter melted, plus more for greasing the pan
– Special equipment, optional – Ebleskiver filled pancake pan
– Fillings, Dulce de Leche or Cajeta, chocolate and hazelnut spread, jams or preserves
– Confectioner’s sugar, optional for dusting
DIRECTIONS
In a medium saucepan, heat milk over medium low heat. Add chocolate chunks and stir occasionally until it has dissolved, a few minutes. Remove from heat and using a molinillo or whisk, emulsify or foam as much as you can. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour with the sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the melted butter to the dry ingredients as well as the beaten eggs and start to mix with a spatula. Slowly, pour the Mexican chocolate milk, mixing fast so the eggs will not cook (!) if the milk is still hot. Continue to combine until you get an even and homogeneous batter, just a minute or so. You should have a shinny and a bit runny batter. Taste it: it’s so good! Let it sit for a few minutes, it will fluff up a bit, which is what you want.
Meanwhile, heat your special pan or skillet over low to low-medium heat until very hot, about 4 or 5 minutes. Butter the pan and spoon batter into each hole, up to ¾ of each cup. Once you can move the balloons around (like when pancakes are ready to flip) but the batter in the center is still be runny, you can add a half a teaspoon of a filling of your choice. Cover with a bit more batter to fill the cups just a tad beyond the rim. Using two spoons or two wooden skewers, flip the balloons to the other side. Give them one minute or two and remove from the pan. Dust with confectioner’s sugar if desired (I always do!) and eat while hot.
If making normal pancakes, cook as regular pancakes. Heat the skillet over low medium heat until very hot. Grease with unsalted butter and ladle batter in the pan. Flip once the top shows bubbles and the bottom is cooked enough to be released from the pan. Cook on the other side for a minute or two and serve. Add the fillings as toppings instead of as a filling.
Still hungry?… See more recipe’s from Pati’s Mexican Table