Chilean sopaipillas (fried pumpkin flatbreads) + sopaipillas pasadas

The most common cause is too much flour or over-kneading: excess gluten development makes the dough elastic and the finished flatbread tough and chewy. The fix is to work the dough just until it comes together — mix until incorporated, do not knead. Rolling them thicker than 7–8 mm also produces denser, tougher results; aim for 5–6 mm.

Cool oil is the main culprit: when the temperature is below 160 °C, the dough absorbs oil before the outer crust forms the barrier that keeps it out. Always check the temperature before frying and avoid crowding the pan, as adding too many at once drops the oil temperature sharply. Without a thermometer, use the piece-of-dough test: it should instantly surround itself with lively bubbles when it hits the oil.

Traditional sopaipillas from central and southern Chile contain pumpkin (zapallo) in the dough, which gives them their orange colour, soft texture and gentle sweetness. Sopaipillas from northern Chile and some home versions are made with only flour, water, salt and fat, without pumpkin: they are crispier and paler. Both are authentic; the pumpkin version is the one most associated with Fiestas Patrias.

Regular sopaipillas are served freshly fried — crisp and lightly salted. Sopaipillas pasadas are bathed in a warm chancaca syrup (made from unrefined raw cane sugar) infused with orange zest and cinnamon: they become soft, sweet and warmly spiced. Both start from the same fried dough; the pasadas version is mainly eaten in winter or on rainy days.

Dissolve 200 g of chancaca (panela or piloncillo) in 400 ml of water with a strip of orange zest, a cinnamon stick and two whole cloves. Heat over low heat, stirring until the chancaca dissolves, then cook for a further 10 minutes until the syrup thickens and coats a spoon. Remove the aromatics. Submerge the freshly fried sopaipillas in the hot syrup for 2–3 minutes before serving. Leftover syrup can be used as a poured sauce for other desserts.

Yes, an air fryer works reasonably well: brush the rounds with oil and cook at 180 °C for 8–10 minutes, flipping halfway. The texture is different — less crisp at the edges, drier inside — because the full-immersion effect of deep-frying is absent. For storage: fried sopaipillas lose their crunch quickly; the best approach is to keep the raw dough in the fridge (up to 24 hours) and fry to order. If already fried, reheat for 3–4 minutes in a 180 °C oven or air fryer to recover some texture.

Two to three minutes per side in the chancaca sauce over low heat, using sopaipillas that are already fried and cooled: freshly fried ones absorb too much and break. They should be soaked through but whole; lift them out with a slotted spoon and serve at once. For firmer sopaipillas, pour the hot sauce over them at serving time instead of soaking.