Combine dry ingredients and mix in 1 tablespoon lard,
butter or margarine
Dissolve yeast in the water
Add
yeast to scalded milk, cooled to room temperature
If not
using yeast, use 1-1/2 cups milk and omit the 1/4 cup
warm water.
Make a well in the center of dry ingredients
Add about
1-1/4 cups liquid to dry ingredients and work into
dough
Add more liquid until dough is firm and springy
and holds its shape, similar to a yeast dough.
Knead dough 15 to 20 times, then invert the bowl over
the dough and set aside for approximately 10 minutes
Heat 1 quart lard or oil to 420F
in a deep-fryer.
Roll one fourth of the dough to 1/4-inch thickness or
slightly thinner, then cut into squares or triangles
Do
not reroll any of the dough
Cover the cut dough with a
towel as you fiy the sopaipillas, a few at a time, in the
hot fat
They should puff up and become hollow very
soon after being dropped into the fat
To assure puffing,
slightly stretch each piece of dough before lowering it
into the fat, then place the rolled or top side of dough
into the fat first, so it will be the bottom side
Hold each
piece of dough down in the fat until it puffs
Drain
sopaipillas on absorbent paper towel.
Sopaipillas may be dusted with a sugar-cinnamon mix-
ture and are especially good with honey
Stuff hot large
sopaipillas with refried beans, chile con came, chopped
onion, grated cheese and lettuce or guacamole for a
main dish.
Sopaipillas can be frozen for up to three months
To
serve, heat in a foil packet in a 350F
oven for about 15
minutes
Just before serving, open the foil so that the
sopaipillas will dry out on the outside
