Food n Flix-Cream Fritters ala Like Water for Chocolate

I love this Food n Flix Club!!!  How much fun is it to watch a movie, find inspiration for a recipe, create the recipe and share it with the rest of the group??

This month's host is Elizabeth at the Law Student's Cookbook.  She has chosen the movie Like Water for Chocolate.  Elizabeth had not seen this movie yet but had read and loved the book.  I had never heard of the movie or the book prior to this challenge so I  was very intrigued.  A google search taught me that this movie is from 1993 and was very well received by audiences.  It appears to be a mystical, magical love story with lots of cooking thrown in.  I was very anxious to watch it so I conducted a smart search on my tv, found that it was playing on the Starz channel and set it to record.

And for some unknown reason....it did not record.  When I went to try to record it again, it was no longer playing so then it was off to the video store for me.  My local video store did not have the movie either. So then I spoke with Kim who had read the book and seen the movie but did not own it.  She generously ordered it up for me through netflix.  Two days later I got a text that the movie had arrived!!!

This movie was all in Spanish with English subtitles.  I don't know if that is how the movie was made or if that was just my copy.  Either way it was okay because it immediately caught my attention and had me entranced.  I kept having to rewind the movie because I would start laughing and miss some of the subtitles.  I would also have to rewind because I would start to write notes about the movie and miss the words.  Subtitles and multi-tasking do not mix.

I watched as they ground their meat for burgers. I watched as they baked bread in the wood oven.  I watched as they created music with their knives while cooking. I watched as Nacha and Tita baked the wedding cake and added their tears and then I watched as the guests ate those tears and felt much sadness and melancholy, yearning for the love of their lives and resulting in mass vomiting.  I shared their tears when Nacha passed away.

I was intrigued by the quails with rose petal sauce but I think I better save that "hot" recipe for when Frank and I are home alone LOL.  Mole sauce made with lots of love sounded good as did homemade tortillas.

I wanted to slap the mother throughout the entire movie but after the watermelon scene it became an obsession with me and I couldn't think of anything else.  I rejoiced when her mother, in her cruelty sent Tita away.

I celebrated as Chencha's broth cured Tita's broken heart and gave her the courage to stand up to her mother.  And I was not as generous as Tita and shed nary a tear when the old hag  mother died.  Alas, my happiness was short lived because that woman even hounded Tita from the grave.  Poor Tita, she couldn't even bake bread in peace.

Cream fritters seem to be the perfect foil for bearing your heart's secrets.  And the movie began and ended with wedding feasts prepared by Tita with love as the secret ingredient.  I was flabbergasted by the end of the movie and of all the characters portrayed, my heart mostly went out to John who was the only person who loved unceasingly and unconditionally.

So, after all that, the recipe that stuck with me and that I hoped to recreate were the Cream Fritters.  I did a search and found this recipe for Cream Fritters (Bunuelos) at Muy Bueno Cookbook.  The only adaptation was that I halved the recipe and I am glad I did because once you start eating these you don't stop until they are gone!!

I couldn't let Spence watch the movie with me but I could let him help with the recipe.

He kneaded the dough, cut it into equal pieces and rolled it out.

We ended up with 12 good size fritters.

I allowed the tortillas to rest for a bit.  

This allowed them not only to dry but to relax so I could roll them thinner before frying.

I handled the frying.

Spence handled the sprinkling.

I handled the drizzling.

Frank handled the photo taking.

We all handled the eating!!!

Mexican Fritters
very slightly adapted from Muy Bueno Cookbook.

1.5 c. flour
1/2 t. each, baking powder, salt and cinnamon
3/8 c. milk
2 T. butter
1/2 t. vanilla
1 egg, beaten
Canola Oil
Honey

Combine dry ingredients in bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.  Place milk, butter and vanilla
in a small saucepan over med heat.  Bring to a boil, remove from heat.  Add a small amount of the hot liquid to the beaten egg, whisking to incorporate, then add egg mixture to the remaining hot liquid, whisking quickly to incorporate.  Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and mix well.

Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for a few minutes until soft and smooth.  Divide dough into equal portions and roll into balls (you should get 10-12).  Roll the balls into thin tortillas.  The dough will still be pretty elastic at this point, just get them flattened into a circle.

Lay tortillas out onto paper towel and let rest for half an hour, turning over after 15 minutes.  Place another paper towel over the tortillas and roll them until they are very thin.  They will roll out easily now that they have rested.

Heat an inch of oil in the bottom of a pan that will allow the tortillas to lie flat as they fry.  Fry one at a time over med high heat, turning once during cooking.  Remove from oil to a paper towel lined paper plate to drain, flipping once.  Remove to a second paper plate and sprinkle both sides with Cinnamon Sugar (1 t. cinnamon to 1 c. sugar).

Drizzle with honey and serve.  Print Recipe