Turrón de Doña Pepa

Turrón de Doña Pepa is a popular Peruvian dessert that can be enjoyed at any time of year but is most often prepared during one of Peru’s most important religious events: the celebration of El Señor de los Milagros (the Lord of Miracles).

In this recipe, anise-flavoured cookies are stacked and slathered in a fruit-infused caramel sauce, giving it a uniquely fresh flavour. The turrón is then topped with colourful homemade sprinkles, which can be made in advance, but go ahead and use store-bought if this sounds a little ambitious — the dessert is still sure to impress.

Turrón de Doña Pepa was the Technical Bake for Celebration Week in Season 8 of The Great Canadian Baking Show.

Turrón de Doña Pepa

Ingredients

Aniseed Cookies:

• 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp aniseed, divided
• 2 tbsp white sesame seeds
• ½ tsp annatto seeds
• ½ cup boiling water
• 5 cups (710 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 5 egg yolks, beaten, room temperature
• 1 cup (184 g) vegetable shortening, cubed
• 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, cubed, room temperature
• ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar

Fruit Caramel:

• 1 banana, skin on, cut in half lengthwise
• ½ pineapple, skin on, cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1 green apple, skin on, cut into 8 chunks
• 1 lemon, skin on, cut into 8 chunks
• 1 orange, skin on, cut into 8 chunks
• 1 lime, skin on, cut into 8 chunks
• 8 strawberries, stems on
• 2 prunes, halved
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 6 cloves
• 1 star anise pod
• 8 cups water
• 1 puck (454 g) chancaca
• 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
• 1 tsp white corn syrup

Sprinkles:

• 4 cups (452 g) icing sugar
• ⅓ cup (57 g) meringue powder
• 4 to 6 tbsp hot water
• Yellow, pink, green, violet and blue food colouring

Preparation

Aniseed Cookies:

Heat oven to 350 F and set the rack to the middle position.

Combine 1 tablespoon aniseed and the sesame seeds in a small pan. Toast over medium heat until the sesame seeds are golden brown, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile, combine the remaining aniseed, annatto seeds and boiling water in a measuring cup, and set aside to steep.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. When the toasted seeds have cooled, crush them slightly in a mortar and pestle, and whisk into the flour mixture.  

When the aniseed-infused tea has cooled to room temperature, strain it through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl and discard the seeds. In a separate medium bowl, place the egg yolks and whisk in the aniseed tea.

Place the shortening, butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium for 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the flour mixture and mix on medium for 2 minutes. With the mixer continuing to run on medium, pour in the egg yolk and aniseed tea mixture, and mix until fully incorporated. 

Divide the dough into 3 even portions. Flatten each piece into a disc and wrap individually in plastic wrap. Place the pieces of dough in the fridge in a single layer and chill for 20 minutes.

Once the dough has chilled, place one disc on a lightly floured work surface and cut it into 4 even pieces. Gently roll each piece into a log that is roughly 1 inch in diameter and 9 inches long, and place the logs on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Repeat with the remaining discs of dough to create 12 logs in total. Place the pan in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Once the logs have chilled, use a bench knife to cut six of the logs in half crosswise. Place the cut logs on a second parchment-lined sheet pan. 

Bake the dough logs for 20 to 30 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through. The bottoms of the cookies should be golden brown while the tops should remain lighter in colour. Carefully transfer the cookie logs to a cooling rack and allow to cool to room temperature.

Fruit Caramel:

Combine the fruit, spices and water in a wide dutch oven, cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes.

Place a large sieve over a large, deep stock pot. Using a slotted spoon, scoop the fruit out of the dutch oven and place it into the sieve to strain. Use the back of a spoon to push as much liquid out of the fruit as possible, then discard the solids. 

Carefully pour the remaining fruit syrup in the dutch oven through the sieve. Press out as much liquid as possible from the remaining solids, then discard them. You should have about 4 cups of fruit syrup. 

Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pot, and set a wide metal pan next to the stovetop. Add the chancaca, sugar and corn syrup to the pot, and bring it to a boil over high heat. Use a spoon to skim off any foam that forms on the surface of the liquid. Reduce the heat to medium-high and boil the caramel until it reaches 235 to 240 F. Use a pastry brush dipped in water to clean the candy thermometer as needed to read the temperature. 

NOTE: This caramel will bubble up much more than standard caramel because of the fruit syrup. Do not leave unattended.

When the caramel is cooked, carefully pour it into the metal pan. Once the caramel has cooled to room temperature, transfer it to a piping bag and set aside.

Sprinkles:

Prepare two piping bags, one fitted with a #362 (fine star) tip and the other fitted with a #822 (open star) tip.

Place the icing sugar and meringue powder in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on low to combine. Add 4 tablespoons of hot water 1 tablespoon at a time with the mixer running on low, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 minute to dissolve the sugar. The icing should be thick and spreadable — it should not drip off of the paddle when it’s lifted. Add more water 1 tablespoon at a time to loosen the icing if needed.

Divide the icing evenly between six small bowls. Set aside one bowl (this icing will be used to make white sprinkles). Add one shade of food colouring to each of the remaining bowls and stir until desired saturation is reached. Place each icing into a small piping bag and use scissors to snip off a small tip (2 to 3 millimetres) from each bag. 

Pipe a small amount of icing in each corner of a sheet pan and press a sheet of parchment paper on top. 

Working one colour at a time, pipe 4 thin lines of icing across the length of the prepared sheet pan. If the icing is too difficult to pipe, knead the bag for a few seconds or microwave it in 5-second intervals. 

Trim the holes of each piping bag by a few millimetres and pipe 1 thicker line of each colour across the length of the sheet pan. 

Trim a larger hole in the pink piping bag and transfer the icing to the prepared #362-tip piping bag. Pipe a squiggly line onto the sheet pan, roughly the same length as your straight lines, and a series of small kisses.

Trim a larger hole in the purple piping bag and transfer the icing to the prepared #822-tip piping bag. Pipe a series of larger kisses onto the sheet pan.

Place the tray of sprinkles in a room temperature, dry place, and allow to dry for 4 hours or overnight.

Once the icing is completely hard and dry, use a small offset spatula to loosen the straight line sprinkles from the parchment paper. Transfer them to a cutting board and, using a sharp chef’s knife or fingers, cut or break into smaller sprinkles. Transfer the sprinkles to a small bowl. Loosen the large squiggle sprinkle, transfer to a cutting board and carefully cut into smaller sprinkles using a chef’s knife. Loosen the kisses and set aside for assembly.

Assembly:

Place a rectangular cake board on a wire rack set over a sheet pan.

Arrange three 9-inch cookie logs, long sides together, on your work surface (you will be using them as a guide). Using a serrated knife, gently trim the ends of the 4½-inch cookie logs so that they are as long as the three 9-inch cookie logs are wide.

Place three 9-inch cookie logs lengthwise on the cake board and pipe one-quarter of the fruit caramel over them, spreading it out with a small offset spatula as needed to fill the spaces in between the logs (you will have run off). Place six short cookie logs crosswise on top of the caramel, and pipe another quarter of the caramel on top. Repeat this process until you have four layers of cookie logs. 

Top the turrón with the last of the caramel, spreading it out with a small offset spatula. If you run out of caramel, use drippings from under the rack. Place the turrón in the fridge to chill completely. 

Once the turrón has chilled, top with sprinkles and transfer to a serving platter.

Makes 1 turrón