Mexican Pumpkin Turnovers (Empanadas de Calabaza)
The Empanadas de Calabaza are authentic mexican dessert empanadas that have conquered the whole country's heart with simple local ingredients and an innovative way to prepare the european empanada; this is an original recipe from northern Mexico, more specifically the state of Sonora; they now enjoy a widespread popularity throughout the country and Southern United States as well...
Recipe for the Empanadas de Calabaza
Ingredients:
* 2 lb. flour
* 3/4 cup melted butter or shortening
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 and 1/2 tablespoons dry yeast
* 1 egg
* 4 tablespoons ground cinnamon
* warm milk (the necessary)
* Filling of dulce de calabaza (See below)
To Varnish the turnovers
* 1/2 cup of milk
* 1 tablespoons heavy cream
Pumpkin filling (dulce de calabaza):
* 1 pumpkin, chopped in 4 lb. cubes of pumpkin flesh, seeds removed
* 3 cups of water
* 1 lb. Mexican Piloncillo, broken into small pieces or brown sugar
* 1 cup sugar
* 1/2 cinnamon stick
* 1 sweet potato, diced
Preparation:
The Pumpkin Filling or Dulce de Calabaza:
1) Put all ingredients of the dulce de calabaza, simmer over medium heat until pumpkin is tender. Take out the skin of the pumpkin and blend everything; this preparation sauce has to be thick, if too liquid leave on the burner to reduce.
The dough:
2) Grind the cinnamon using a coffee grinder or spice grinder, not completely pulverized, this adds a good flavor to the dough.
3) As for the dough mix all the ingredients, mix slowly gradually incorporating the warm milk until the dough is soft but not sticky. Let stand covered with a towel until the dough has doubled in size.
4) Make the dough balls, then flatten them with a rolling pin, not making them round but rather oval. Place some pumpkin stuffing along the middle, fold in two flattening the edges to wrap the filling. Arrange them on a greased pan or baking sheet.
Let stand until slightly puffy.
5) Meanwhile mix the 1/2 cup of milk with 1 tablespoon of cream. With this mixture and with the help of a brush, baste the empanadas with this mixture; pierce two small holes on each empanada to allow steam to come out.
Baking the Pumpkin Empanadas:
6) Bake in the preheated oven, at 350 °F, by first broiling slightly until the tops become slightly browned, then put the pan at the bottom of the oven to finish baking them, if done in this order they will come out perfect.
Serve your pumpkin turnovers or calabaza empanadas as dessert or snacks. To make the famous piloncillo empanadas, the only difference is the stuffing, adding walnut pieces, to them it gets a little brown sugar over top to melt over dough.
