Turrón de Doña Pepa

Ingredients

• 500 g plain flour
• 200 g lard or unsalted butter, softened
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 tbsp anise seed
• 200 ml water
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 400 g chancaca or dark muscovado sugar
• 200 g granulated sugar
• 500 ml water for the syrup
• peel of 1 orange
• 200 g pineapple, chopped with its skin
• 1 quince, chopped (optional)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 cloves
• 100 g coloured sprinkles

Before you cook

• Take the lard or butter out of the fridge an hour ahead so it is properly soft.
• Separate four eggs and keep the yolks in a small bowl.
• Pare the peel from the orange in wide strips, leaving the white pith behind.
• Chop the pineapple, skin included, into rough chunks.
• Line two baking trays with baking paper.

Steps

1. Simmer the anise seed in 200 ml of water for 5 minutes, then strain the liquid and let it cool.
2. Rub the lard into the flour, baking powder and salt until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
3. Beat in the egg yolks and the sesame seeds.
4. Add the cooled anise water a spoonful at a time until the dough gathers into a smooth, firm ball.
5. Wrap the dough and rest it for 30 minutes at room temperature.
6. Heat the oven to 180C.
7. Roll pieces of dough into ropes about the thickness of a finger and 12 cm long.
8. Lay the ropes on the lined trays with a small gap between them.
9. Bake for 20 minutes, until pale gold and firm but not browned.
10. Cool the sticks completely on a wire rack.
11. Put the chancaca, granulated sugar, 500 ml of water, orange peel, pineapple, quince, cinnamon and cloves into a pan.
12. Simmer the syrup for 45 minutes, until it coats a spoon and falls from it in slow, heavy drops.
13. Strain the syrup and throw away the fruit and spices.
14. Lay a tight layer of biscuit sticks in a deep tray and spoon a third of the warm syrup over them.
15. Add a second layer of sticks laid at right angles to the first and spoon over another third of the syrup.
16. Add a third and final layer and pour on the rest of the syrup so it runs into every gap.
17. Scatter the coloured sprinkles over the top while the syrup is still tacky.
18. Leave the turrón to set for at least 4 hours before cutting it into squares.