Turron de Doña Pepa is an anise flavored confection from Peru, best described as a bar made from thick cookie layers. The cookie dough which contains anise seeds is rolled out or shaped into sticks then baked.
The layers are stacked and held together by chancaca honey. The top is also covered with honey, then covered with candy sprinkles or dragees and fruit.
Chancaca honey or chancaca syrup is made by cooking a combination of various fruit such as banana, pineapple, figs and spices like clove and cinnamon. The hot fruit mix is strained, reheated and then chancaca – raw unrefined brown cane sugar is added and cooked until thick.
A turron is a type of sticky confection made with honey and often eggs and nuts, much like what is called nougat in English. Doña is a respectful title that refers to a woman of rank and of a certain age.
Origin & Cultural Significance
Today, Turron de Doña Pepa can be found year round, prepackaged. Traditionally it was prepared only during the month of October which Peruvians call Mes Morada or purple month. This is when El Señor de Milagros or the procession of the lord of miracles is held in the capital city of Lima
It’s believed that Turron de Doña Pepa was first made by an Afro-Peruvian slave, Josefa Marmanillo, nicknamed Dona Pepa, who was known for her baking skills. She would become paralyzed and no longer able to bake, decided to travel to Lima to ask El Señor de Milagros to cure her. Her wish was granted and as a show of her gratitude, she created the Turron as an offering.
Turron de Doña Pepa Recipe
Turron de Doña Pepa is an anise flavored confection from Peru, best described as a bar made from thick cookie layers.
Ingredients
Dough
- Butter – 2 cups
- Flour – 4 ½ cups
- Salt - 1 tbsp
- Baking powder – 2 tsp
- Egg yolks - 5
- Sugar - 4 tbsp
- Sesame seeds, ground - 1 tbsp
- Anise seed, ground - 1 tbsp
- Milk - 1 cup
- Anise water or milk
Chancaca Honey
- Sugar- 6 cups
- Peaches - ½ cup
- Chancaca sugar - 2 tbsp
- Dried figs - 100g
- Banana - 1
- Lemon - 1
- Quinces - 2
- Pineapple - ½
- Orange - 1
- Orange peel - 1
- Apples - 2
- Cloves
- Cinnamon sticks
Topping
- Colorful dragees - 100g
Instructions
Dough
- Sift the flour, salt and baking powder.
- Add the butter.
- Knead into a firm dough.
- Place the dough on a table and make a hole in the center.
- Add the yolks, sugar, sesame seeds aniseed and enough aniseed water or milk to form a soft dough.
- Knead everything together .
- Let the dough rest for approximately 15 minutes.
- Make sticks of the desired size, eg 3 cm high by 10cm long.
- Once the sticks have been molded, place them on a floured baking pan.
- Heat the oven to 350 F degrees and once hot, bake them for about 40 minutes.
- Check them after half an hour so, they should be golden.
- Remove from the oven and let cool.
Chancaca Honey
- Peel and chop all the fruit into medium pieces.
- Place the fruit, sugar, cloves and cinnamon in a large pot with enough water to cover all the fruit.
- Boil until the fruit has broken down and the liquid has been reduced by half. This will take approximately close to 30 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool before straining out the pieces of fruit and spices.
- Melt the chancaca with a small amount of hot water.
- Add this to the fruit juice, place the pot on the fire and cook again over low heat for two hours. It should become thick.
Assembling Turron de Doña Pepa
- In a large, flat dish, place parchment paper and put the sticks one by one together in the same direction.
- Cover the top of this first layer with the chancaca honey.
- Place more sticks on top, this time in the opposite direction and cover the top with honey.
- In the third and last layer of sticks, place the honey then colored dragees, candies and dried fruits if desired.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1445Total Fat: 52gSaturated Fat: 31gTrans Fat: 2gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 242mgSodium: 1400mgCarbohydrates: 241gFiber: 6gSugar: 179gProtein: 13g