Casadielles or casadiella is a typical sweet from Asturias. It is a kind of fried and sweet turnover; filled with a mixture of nuts, sugar and aniseed. It is typical to take them at Christmas and during Carnival (Antroxu), although it depends on the area and the tradition of each family. There are two ways to prepare this Asturian sweet: by making the dough and then frying it, or with puff pastry which is then made in the oven. The result is always the same, a tube sealed at the ends with sugar on top and an incredible flavour inside.
With regard to their origin, the presence of nuts can be associated with pre-Roman traditions. Moreover, it is said that the name is a deformation of the word cosadielles, which are Asturian riddles, as the filling of the casadielles was a surprise. This filling changes slightly according to the area of Asturias where it is prepared, some use white wine, others aniseed, hazelnuts, honey…
Ingredients for the Casadielles recipe
For the dough:
- 150 ml of white wine
- 100 grams of butter
- 75 ml sunflower oil
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 tablespoon of baking powder
- An egg yolk
- Flour (until the dough is accepted)
For the filling:
- 200 grams of walnuts
- 150 grams of sugar
- 3 tablespoons of water
- 3 tablespoons of aniseed
- Sunflower oil for frying
- Sugar for breading
How to make the Casadielles:
- To make the dough for the casadielles, pour the white wine, the 75 millilitres of sunflower oil and the teaspoon of salt into a bowl. Mix well until the ingredients are integrated. Then add a spoonful of yeast, the butter and the egg yolk to the bowl. Stir again until a smooth, even dough is formed. Now add flour little by little to the cream until it forms a dough that can be shaped by hand.
- Flour the work surface and put your casadielles dough on it. Knead it into a ball and roll it out with a rolling pin. Fold it in half and stretch it again with the roller. Fold it in half and stretch it again. Repeat one last time (three times in total) and make a ball to be left in a bowl, covered with a cloth. Put it in the fridge for two hours.
- While the dough of your casadielles is resting in the fridge, it is time to prepare the filling. Crush the nuts, pour them into a bowl with the sugar, spoonfuls of water and aniseed. Stir well until the ingredients are integrated and let it rest.
- When the dough is ready and out of the fridge, take a small ball and roll it out. At one end, without reaching the sides, put some filling and roll it up with the dough. Cut the excess and seal the edges with a fork. Repeat the process until the dough is finished and you have all your casadielles ready to fry.
- Finally, in a frying pan with plenty of sunflower oil, very hot, add each of the casadielles and turn them over until they are golden brown. Keep a container with sugar handy to coat them when you take them out of the frying pan. Let them cool down a bit and you can enjoy your homemade casadielles.
