By
Diego Cortés
Alcayota empanadas are a traditional sweet from central and southern Chile: a crumbly, barely sweet dough filled with alcayota preserve (also known as cabello de ángel or fig-leaf gourd jam) and baked until golden. They are eaten warm at teatime with tea or coffee with milk.
Alcayota is a fibrous-fleshed squash: when cooked with sugar it breaks into shiny strands and makes a mildly sweet filling that pairs beautifully with walnuts. The recipe comes together in two stages: the preserve, homemade or from a jar, and the dough, which needs half an hour in the fridge to roll out thin without tearing. The rest is a fork, a pastry brush and the oven.
Fill them with homemade alcayota preserve, try the same dough in these fried meat empanadas or change the filling for quince candy.
Prep
45 min
Cook
25 min
Servings
12
Calories
375 kcal
Sift the flour, cornstarch, icing sugar, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl and mix.
Add the cold butter in cubes and rub it in with your fingertips (or two knives) until the mixture looks like sand; do not let it melt.
Add the yolks and the cold milk little by little, bringing it together with a spatula or wooden spoon; if it is dry, add milk by the spoonful.
Shape a disc, wrap it in cling film and chill for 30 minutes: cold dough rolls thin without tearing or shrinking back.
Divide the dough into 12 pieces of about 60 g each and roll each one out on a floured surface into 10-12 cm circles.
Spoon one heaped tablespoon of alcayota preserve (about 30 g) onto the centre of each circle, add a few walnuts and moisten the edge with water.
Fold each circle in half, press the edge with your fingers and crimp it with the tines of a fork.
Prick the top two or three times with the fork so the steam escapes and the pastries do not burst open.
Arrange the empanadas on a baking tray lined with baking paper and brush them with the beaten egg.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 180 °C, until golden and the edges look dry.
Let them cool for 10 minutes on a rack and dust with icing sugar just before serving.
This recipe has a medium difficulty level, which means it's accessible for cooks of all levels.
The preparation time is 45 minutes and the cooking time is 25 minutes.
This recipe is designed for 12 servings.
Yes, many ingredients can be substituted with similar alternatives. We recommend checking the recipe variations.
Store the preparation in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in an airtight container. Some preparations can be frozen for up to 3 months.
