Bola de fraile, friar's ball, is a classic factura of the Argentine bakery, a round, golden, fried sweet dough filled with pastry cream or dulce de leche and glazed with a light sugar syrup. The name comes from the shape, round and puffy, said to resemble a friar's belly or tonsured head. The dough is enriched with egg, butter and sugar, similar to a brioche, then formed into balls, deep-fried until golden, filled with cream through a piping bag, and glazed. Like all facturas, it is eaten with mate at breakfast or the afternoon merienda, part of the vast Argentine bakery culture that makes the afternoon tea stop a national ritual.
A warm, golden, lightly crisp ball of sweet fried dough, yielding to a cool, creamy custard or sweet dulce de leche centre, the syrup glaze sticky on the fingers. Eaten in two bites with a cup of mate.
The technique is an enriched dough, fried and filled. The dough is flour, milk, egg, butter, sugar and yeast, proved until doubled, then shaped into balls. The balls are deep-fried at 170 degrees C for 4 to 5 minutes until golden all over, turned once. After cooling, they are pierced with a piping nozzle and filled with pastry cream (crema pastelera) or dulce de leche. A light sugar syrup is brushed on while still warm, giving a glossy finish. The dough must be enriched enough to be soft but not so rich that it absorbs too much oil. The frying temperature must be moderate; too hot burns the outside before the inside cooks.
Variations
Some fill with chocolate cream. A version dusted with sugar instead of glazed is drier.
On the Palate
Where Bola de Fraile sits in the Argentinian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
5 steps · 30 min
- 18 min
Make an enriched dough: knead 500g flour with 100g sugar, 7g yeast, 2 eggs, 80g melted butter and 200ml warm milk; prove 1 hour.
Watch outKnead the enriched dough until smooth and springy, then prove until doubled and puffy — under-risen dough fries up dense and heavy instead of light.
- 25 min
Shape into 12 balls; prove 30 minutes more on a floured tray.
- 36 min
Deep-fry at 170 degrees C, 4 to 5 minutes, turning once, until deep golden.
Watch outKeep the oil moderate, around a hundred and seventy degrees — too hot and the outside browns before the centre cooks, leaving a raw doughy core.
- 45 min
Drain and cool slightly; pipe pastry cream or dulce de leche into the centre of each.
Watch outOnly fill once cooled — pipe cream into a hot ball and it melts and weeps straight back out.
- 54 min
Brush with warm sugar syrup while still warm; serve with mate.
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