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hello! My name is Mariëla van Proefperu and I'm back as a guest foodie of Delicious Happen. This time my blog is about the Purple month of Peru. The month of the sweet Peruvian Turrón de Doña Pepa. These sweet cookies have a special story. And I'm going to tell you here. This cookie recipe does take some time to make, but I'm sure you'll love it too. Peruvian cuisine turron de doña pepa
A piece of history
On November 13, 1655, a powerful earthquake struck the city of Lima and Callao. Many buildings collapsed and thousands were killed. All the walls of the cofradia de los Angoleños fell down, but the mud wall with the image of Christ remained perfectly standing. He was the one who started the popular cult of the Lord of the Miracles: “El Señor de los Milagros” and it quickly spread among the local congregation.
Today on the same site stands the Monastery of the Nazarenas, the home of the Lord of Miracles. Since then, a huge procession has been held in honor of El Señor de los Milagros. As a tradition, people wear purple clothes. It is one of the largest processions in the world. About 40 thousand people attend here annually. Abroad, the faithful have founded more than 640 brotherhoods worldwide. For the people who plan to go to Peru and want to experience this procession: the procession starts on the first Saturday of October from the las Nazarenas church to the cathedral. Afterwards, travel to the city of Lima where there are celebrations on several days.
Peruvian Turron de Doña Pepa
This sweet cookie was made in the 18th century by a woman known as Doña Pepa (She was called Josefa Marmanillo and was from Cañete). Suffering from paralysis in her arms and legs, she traveled to the city of Lima in the hope of a miracle. The story goes that she prayed to the Lord of Miracles and was healed. As a token of appreciation, she created this sweet anise-flavored cookie. In the years that followed, she walked through the crowd handing it out. Every October she traveled to Lima and did the same. The Turrón de Doña Pepa used to be eaten exactly in October. Nowadays you can find it all year round in Peru because it is so irresistibly delicious.
I traditionally make this delicious recipe every year with my wonderful family and have had the unique opportunity to attend the procession several times. It is truly a breathtaking experience, where you experience the deep connection with our faith in an indescribably intense way.
The scent of the “palo santo” that transports you to a sacred place full of love. This time I am sharing this recipe and if you make it, ask El Señor de los Milagros for a miracle, and if it comes true, repeat this tradition every year in the month of October. Peruvian cuisine turron de doña pepa
Here you will find the complete recipe with all the ingredients you need. I hope you have fun preparing the dish below.
Peruvian Turron de Doña Pepa
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Ingredients:
For the fruit syrup:
- 1 liter of water
- 320 gram white caster sugar
- 320 gram Brown sugar
- 2 el Melasse
- 1 orange - in quarters
- 1 banana - peeled
- 1 call - in quarters
- 1 lime - in quarters
- ½ ananas - with peel
- 5 cloves
- 2 star anise
- 3 cinnamon sticks
decoration:
- colored sprinkles - e.g. from Dr Oetker
Nice and easy: click on the logo of your favorite supermarket to add the ingredients.
And this is how you make it:
- To make the cookie sticks: Toast the sesame seeds and aniseeds in a frying pan until fragrant. Then put them in a mortar.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the crushed seeds, flour, turmeric, salt, sugar and diced butter and mix until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the eggs and mix until the dough comes together. You can mix the ingredients using a food processor or by hand.
- Place the dough on a clean work surface and knead until you can no longer see the butter pieces. Wrap in cling film and let it set in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
- Cut the dough in half, use the heat of your hands to make it more malleable and form into a disk. Roll out on a floured work surface to a thickness of about 1 cm. Cut your "cookie sticks" with a pizza cutter so that they are 3 cm wide and 25 cm long. The length depends on the size of your baking sheet.
- Repeat with the other half of the dough. Place the sticks on a baking tray lined with baking paper and leave some space between the sticks because they will expand in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Then let cool on a rack.
- While the sticks are cooling, make the spiced fruit syrup. Put 1 liter of water in a large saucepan. Add quartered apple, lime, pineapple, orange and banana. Add the cinnamon sticks, cloves and star anise. Bring water to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
- Strain the mixture. You should have 3 cups of fruit water. (750ml).
- Put your strained fruit water in a saucepan. Add the white and brown sugar and molasses. Bring it to a boil. Place a wooden spoon on the pan to prevent it from boiling over. Cook over medium-low heat until it reaches 115C on a candy thermometer. Let the syrup cool for at least 15 minutes. (It should be a bit thick in texture, otherwise it won't stick to the cookies).
- Line a baking tray with baking paper. Take the cookie sticks and place 7 sticks next to each other. Brush them with the syrup. Then place a layer of cookie sticks across this layer. Repeat this process and finish with a layer of syrup.
- Generously cover the top with colored sprinkles. Make sure you sprinkle it on right away, otherwise they won't stick when the syrup has cooled. Let the Turrón rest at room temperature for at least 2 hours before slicing.
- When the cake has cooled, take a sharp knife that you heat under a hot tap (also dry for a while) and cut a small piece from the edges so that you get a tight square or rectangle. Then you can cut the Turrón into small cubes.
- Delicious bites!
This blog ”Peruvian Turrón de Doña Pepa” is a contribution from guest foodie Mariela from Taste Peru. You can buy her Peruvian jam and, for example, the pepper paste "aij amarillo" on her website.
Are you also curious about this colorful and tasteful kitchen? We already made some very tasty dishes:
This vegetarian Peruvian causa Limena.
Or a meal of soup, the chupe de papas.
And for breakfast the tacacho con cecina.
A kind of Peruvian croquette is the papa rellena.
Not to mention a tiradito with passion fruit.
Delicious Happen is a multi-media company, so you can also find me on various social media. follow me on Facebook, Pinterest en Instagram under @delicioushappen. If you make this recipe I would love it if you tagged me #delicioushappen. A comment below in the comments is also nice of course!
Peruvian turron de doña pepa cuisine
The real person!
The real person!
Delicious cake
Nice with the speckles