Sopaipillas pasadas (Chilean sopaipillas in chancaca syrup)
Sopaipillas pasadas: Chilean pumpkin sopaipillas soaked in a chancaca syrup with orange and cinnamon. 12 pieces in 35 minutes, with the exact soaking time.
What sopaipillas pasadas are
Sopaipillas pasadas are Chilean pumpkin sopaipillas, already fried, bathed for a few minutes in a hot syrup of chancaca, the block of unrefined cane sugar sold in Chile, flavoured with orange zest, cinnamon and cloves. The fried dough soaks up the syrup and goes from salty and crisp to sweet, soft and spiced. They are eaten hot, in a deep plate with a spoon and the leftover syrup poured over, as a dessert or as a winter teatime treat: in central and southern Chile they are the snack of rainy days, when sopaipillas are fried at home and half of them end up in chancaca syrup. This recipe starts from sopaipillas that are already fried and focuses on the syrup and the soaking.
Instructions
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Cut the chancaca into pieces
Break the chancaca block into 2-3 cm pieces with a large knife, or by tapping it wrapped in a cloth: the smaller the pieces, the faster they dissolve. Prepare the aromatics: a strip of orange zest without the bitter white pith, the cinnamon stick and the cloves. Have the fried, cooled sopaipillas ready; if you made them today, let them cool completely before soaking.
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Dissolve the chancaca over medium heat
Put the chancaca in a medium saucepan with the 500 ml of water, the orange zest, the cinnamon and the cloves. Heat over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the chancaca dissolves completely, about 5 minutes. Do not let it boil hard before it dissolves, or the sugar will stick to the bottom.
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Simmer the syrup until it coats a spoon
Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes, until the syrup thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon (a finger drawn across it leaves a clean line). For a thicker syrup, add the cornstarch dissolved in cold water at the end and cook 1 more minute, stirring. Remember that it thickens as it cools.
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Strain the syrup and keep it hot
Lift out the orange zest, cinnamon and cloves with a slotted spoon, or strain the syrup into a clean, wide pan that holds 3-4 sopaipillas in a single layer. Return it to the lowest heat: it should stay hot but not boiling while you soak the sopaipillas.
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Pass the sopaipillas through the syrup over low heat
Place 3-4 cold sopaipillas in the hot syrup and cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes per side, turning them only once with a slotted spoon. They should be soaked through, soft and whole; if they sit longer, or are freshly fried, they absorb too much and break apart. Lift them out and repeat with the rest in batches.
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Serve hot with extra syrup
Serve 3 sopaipillas per person in a deep plate, hot, with two or three spoonfuls of the leftover syrup on top. Eat them with a spoon, straight away: as they cool they turn gummy. Any leftover syrup keeps in a jar in the fridge and is ready for another batch another day.
Foodtastico Tip
The syrup can be made days ahead and kept in a jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Fry the sopaipillas the day before and pass them through the hot syrup just before serving: 2-3 minutes per side is enough. Do not store soaked sopaipillas; they turn gummy.
Nutrition information
| Calories | 190 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 2 g |
| Carbs | 32 g |
| Sugars | 16 g |
| Fat | 4 g |
| Trans fat | 0 g |
Values per serving (1 of 4).
Frequently asked questions
What is chancaca and what can replace it?
Chancaca is unrefined cane sugar, sold in Chile as a hard, dark block (elsewhere it is called panela, piloncillo or rapadura). It gives the syrup its dark colour and molasses flavour. If you cannot find it, use 250 g of light brown sugar with 2 tablespoons of molasses or cane syrup, or 250 g of dark brown sugar: the syrup comes out a little lighter and less deep, but it works just as well.
Can I make sopaipillas pasadas with yesterday's sopaipillas?
Yes, and they actually turn out better: cold or day-old sopaipillas have a firm crumb and absorb the syrup without falling apart, while freshly fried ones, still hot, soak up too much and break. If they are very dry, give them one more minute per side in the syrup. It is the classic way to use up leftover sopaipillas.
How long do they soak so they do not fall apart?
2 to 3 minutes per side, over low heat and with cold sopaipillas, in batches of 3-4 so they are not crowded. Turn them only once with a slotted spoon and lift them out as soon as they are soaked through. If you prefer a firmer texture, do not soak them at all: plate them and pour the hot syrup over the top.
How do I make the chancaca syrup thicker or thinner?
To thicken it, simmer the syrup a few minutes longer or add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons of cold water and cook 1 more minute, stirring. To thin it, add hot water a tablespoon at a time until it is the way you want it. Keep in mind that the syrup thickens quite a lot as it cools: the right point while hot is that it coats the back of a spoon.
Can I store the chancaca syrup, and how long does it keep?
Yes. Let it cool, pour it into a jar with a lid and keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks; it also freezes for up to 3 months. To use it, warm it over low heat with a splash of water if it has become too thick. It is good for another batch of sopaipillas, for drizzling over picarones or calzones rotos, and as a syrup over rice pudding.
Are sopaipillas pasadas made with pumpkin sopaipillas or plain ones?
Both work. The traditional version from central and southern Chile uses pumpkin sopaipillas, which are softer and absorb the syrup better. Plain sopaipillas without pumpkin, crisper and paler, stand up better to soaking and keep more bite. What matters is that they are fried, cold and 5-6 mm thick.
Can I cook the sopaipillas in an air fryer before soaking them?
Yes: brush the dough rounds with oil and cook them at 180 °C for 8-10 minutes, turning them halfway through. They come out drier and less crisp than deep-fried ones, but once they go into the syrup that difference hardly shows, because the soaking softens them. Let them cool before soaking, just like the fried ones.
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