Making Sopapillas

[flee]

CanI make a sopapilla with store bought flour tortillas??? Want to make a quick dessert and not much time.......
Thanks,flee

[Suzanne]

Well, you would get fried tortillas that might be tasty, but they won't puff up the way sopaipillas should. They'd come out more like just fried dough -- sort of Eastern European -- and you could dip them in honey or syrup, or sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar, but they won't be the same.

Sopaipillas are pretty quick and easy to make: for 20 to 30, depending on the size, sift together 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt. Cut in 2 tablespoons shortening until mealy, work in 3/4 cup cold water to form a dough. Turn out onto a floured surface, knead until smooth. Roll out as thin as possible and cut int 2- or 3-inch squares. Drop one at a time into hot (370 degree F) deep oil. Cook until brown on one side, turn over. Drain on paper towels.

It's the baking powder that makes them puff, and you won't get that puff with tortillas.

[Omi]

Suzanne, What would be the difference in this and beignets?

So, it is the baking powder that causes the "puff"? I am from New Orleans and it seems the biggest problem with beignets is that they don't puff (I hate those flat, thick, doughy things!). I have never made them from scratch, always used the French Market brand (and they seldom puff). I had always thought I might not be rolling them the correct thickness.

[Suzanne]

The main difference is the leavening: sopaipillas use baking powder, but beignets are more likely to be yeast-raised. I'm not sure what's in the mix (CDM brand?), but it could be that the leavening -- whichever kind -- is old and just doesn't work any more. Also, I have a feeling that as with biscuits and puff pastry pieces, the cuts have to be really sharp for the dough to rise well.

Betty Fussell, in I Hear America Cooking, says:

These beignets are simply a Frenchified version of the sopaipillas of the Southwest. They are made with either baking powder or yeast, to produce an airy texture or a chewy one.

In her recipe (itself adapted from The New Orleans Cookbook [1975] by Richard Collins) she dissolves 1 package dry yeast in 1/4 cup very warm water (110 to 115 degrees F), and beats in 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoon each salt and grated nutmeg, 1 egg, 3/4 cup evaporated milk, and 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled. Punch down, knead a few times, roll into an 1/8-inch-thick rectangle, 18 x 12 inches. Cut into 3 x 2-inch rectangles (36 pieces), cover lightly and let rise again for about 20 minutes. Heat a pot of oil to 365 degrees F, cook 2 or 3 pieces at a time. Drain on paper towels and coat with powdered sugar.

[UniChef]

Suzzanne- If I may add to your recipe- you need to let the bulk dough sit at room temperature for at least one hour- preferablly longer- or they will not puff evenly.

Some of the boxed beignet products are the same thing and use baking powder. Although nothing could be easier than making them from scratch. By the time you found what isle they were in in the store you could be done.

!Buen Provecho!