Frixuelos, frisuelos or fayuelos are one of the typical desserts from Asturias that can also be found in other areas of northwestern Spain, such as León. Moreover, they are especially typical during the Antroxu; the Asturian Carnival. The origin of this sweet is uncertain, but it is known that it was prepared with the flour of the grain that was grown in each area (wheat, corn, rye) and sweetened with what each town had (honey, fruit, butter, liquor). This explains the great variety of frixuelos that exist in northern Spain.
This Asturian dessert could be defined as a kind of very thin pancake, whose main ingredients are flour, milk, eggs, anisette and sugar. In addition, over the years it has been common to have them filled with nocilla, dulce de leche, pastry cream, chestnut cream, etc. It is also common to find comparisons between frixuelos and crepes or filloas. Compared to crepes, their composition is different as they include anisette; and, compared to filloas, frixuelos are traditionally served with a layer of sugar in the form of syrup that is created when they are piled up.
Ingredients for the frixuelos
- 400 ml of milk
- 180 g wheat flour
- 3 medium eggs
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 1 dash of sweet anisette liqueur
- Olive oil
- 1 pinch of salt
- Sugar to sprinkle
How to make frixuelos
- In a tall jar, pour the eggs, sugar, milk and salt. Mix them and then add the flour little by little. When everything is well beaten, add the anisette. You can do this step with the help of a mixer at maximum power or by hand, but the result must be a consistent liquid without lumps. Also, before frying the frixuelos, if you want you can let the dough rest for an hour to make it easier to handle in the frying pan.
- When you have the dough of your frixuelos ready, put a frying pan on medium heat with a drop of oil; just enough to be able to spread it with kitchen paper and to impregnate the whole frying pan. Then, pour some of the dough (until it reaches the middle of the frying pan, it has to be thin) and tilt the frying pan to spread it all over its surface. When a few seconds have passed and the edges start to turn golden brown, turn it over and take it out when it is nicely done on both sides.
- As you take your frixuelos out of the pan, put them on a plate and sprinkle sugar on each one. In this way, when you place one on top of the other and they are hot, a syrup will form which gives them an even more spectacular touch.
