Los Frailes Campechanos

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 4-quart saucepan for the cocada
• •Wooden spoon
• •Box grater or food processor with grating blade
• •Heavy deep skillet or cazo for frying
• •Candy thermometer
• •Stand mixer with whisk attachment
• •Piping bag with large star tip
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Crack and grate the coconut

   Pierce the coconut eyes with a clean screwdriver and drain the water into a measuring cup. Save it. Crack the shell open with the back of a heavy knife or a hammer wrapped in a towel. Pry the meat from the shell, peel off the brown skin, and grate it on the medium holes of a box grater. Three cups of fresh grated coconut is what you need. Bagged shredded coconut from the baking aisle is dried, sweetened, and wrong for this dish. The cocada needs the moisture and the milky fat of fresh coconut. No me vengas con atajos.

   If the coconut water tastes sweet and clean, add it to the milk in the next step. If it tastes soapy or sour, the coconut is past its prime. Find another.
2. 2

   Cook the cocada paste

   In a heavy 4-quart saucepan, combine the grated coconut, 1 1/2 cups sugar, milk, and the canela stick. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. The mixture will be loose at first, then it will thicken slowly over 25 to 30 minutes. You are looking for the moment the spoon leaves a clear track across the bottom of the pan and the cocada pulls together in a glossy mass. Do not walk away. The sugar burns fast and a burned cocada is a wasted afternoon.

3. 3

   Temper in the yolks

   Pull the pan off the heat. Discard the canela stick. Take a tablespoon of the hot cocada and whisk it into the beaten yolks to warm them, then whisk a second spoonful in, then a third. Pour the tempered yolks back into the pan and return to low heat. Stir for 2 to 3 minutes more, until the yolks are cooked through and the cocada is the color of buttered ivory. Scrape it into a shallow dish and let it cool completely. It will firm up as it sits. Make this the day before if you can. A rested cocada handles better.

   Skip the tempering and you will scramble the yolks. There is no fixing it. Three spoonfuls of warming, then back to the pan. Así se hace y punto.
4. 4

   Build the fritter dough

   In a wide bowl, whisk together the flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center. Add the whole egg, the two yolks, the melted lard, and the sherry. Mix with your fingers, pulling the flour in from the edges, until a shaggy dough forms. Add cold milk a teaspoon at a time only if the dough refuses to come together. Turn it onto a clean counter and knead for 5 minutes until smooth, supple, and slightly elastic. Cover with a clean cloth and rest for 20 minutes. The lard is what makes this dough fry up crisp and tender at the same time. La manteca es el sabor, even in the dulces.

5. 5

   Shape the frailes

   Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, about the size of a walnut. Roll each one into a smooth ball, then flatten it into a disk about 3 inches across, slightly thicker at the center than at the edges. The shape echoes a friar's tonsured head, which is where the name comes from. Place the disks on a parchment-lined sheet pan and let them rest for another 10 minutes while you heat the oil.

6. 6

   Fry to deep gold

   In a heavy deep skillet or cazo, heat the oil to 340F. A small piece of dough should rise immediately and sizzle steadily without browning in the first ten seconds. Fry the disks two or three at a time, turning once, for 2 to 3 minutes per side. They should puff slightly and turn the color of old gold, not mahogany. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and drain on a wire rack. Never on paper towels. Paper towels trap the steam underneath and the bottom turns soggy. The convent cooks of Campeche knew this two hundred years before anyone invented a paper towel.

7. 7

   Crown with cocada

   Once the fritters are cool enough to handle but still slightly warm, take a heaping tablespoon of cocada paste and mound it on top of each one. Smooth it with the back of a spoon into a dome that covers the whole top surface and comes nearly to the edge. The warmth of the fritter helps the cocada settle and adhere. Set them on a serving platter, cocada side up, while you make the meringue.

8. 8

   Cook the sugar syrup

   In a small heavy saucepan, combine 1 cup sugar and the water. Stir once to wet all the sugar, then leave it alone. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook without stirring until the syrup reaches 240F on a candy thermometer, the soft-ball stage. This takes 6 to 8 minutes. While it cooks, start whipping the egg whites with the cream of tartar in a stand mixer on medium speed until they hold soft peaks.

9. 9

   Build the rose meringue

   With the mixer running at medium-high, pour the hot syrup down the side of the bowl in a steady thin stream. Avoid hitting the whisk. Once all the syrup is in, raise the speed to high and whip for 6 to 8 minutes, until the bowl is no longer warm to the touch and the meringue holds stiff, glossy peaks that curl over but do not droop. Add the rose extract and 2 drops of the coloring. Mix on low just until the color is even. You want the pale pink of a Yucatecan flamboyán flower in early May, not the loud pink of a quinceañera dress.

10. 10

    Pipe and finish

    Transfer the meringue to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe a tall rosette or a generous swirl over the cocada on each fraile, covering it completely. Scatter a few toasted coconut shavings and, if you like, a silver dragee on top of each one. The convent cooks of Campeche finished their dulces this way: baroque, generous, unapologetic. Serve within a few hours at room temperature. The meringue is at its best the day it is made. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Fresh coconut is non-negotiable. The bagged sweetened shredded coconut from the supermarket is dehydrated, oversweetened, and stripped of the milky fat that makes cocada cocada. If you cannot crack a coconut, find a Mexican or Caribbean market that sells frozen unsweetened grated coconut. That is a fair substitute. Bagged dried shredded coconut is a compromise that ruins the dish.
• •The Italian meringue method, cooking the egg whites with hot syrup, is what makes this dulce hold up. A French meringue, just whites and sugar, will weep within the hour and turn the cocada into a wet mess. Use the candy thermometer. 240F is the number.
• •Make the cocada one day ahead. It firms up overnight in the refrigerator and shapes much more cleanly onto the fritter. The fritters should be fried the same day you serve them. The meringue, last of all, within a few hours of serving.

Advance Preparation

• •The cocada paste can and should be made one day ahead. Cool completely, cover, and refrigerate. Bring to cool room temperature before shaping onto the fritters.
• •The fritter dough can be made the same morning and rested in the refrigerator for up to 4 hours. Bring back to room temperature before shaping and frying.
• •Fry the fritters within a few hours of serving. The Italian meringue should be made last, within two to three hours of when the frailes will be eaten. These do not keep overnight without losing the meringue's structure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 160g)