Pastel - Brazilian fried pastry
Brazilian snack made with thin, homemade dough and filled with savoury cheese or sweet banana and cinnamon, then deep-fried until golden and crisp.
Ingredients
DOUGH
- 2 cups all-purpose white flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 15 g cold unsalted butter
- 1 egg
- 2-3 tbsp cachaça or vodka
- a pinch salt
- ¼ cup warm water
FILLING 1
- a few tbsp semi-hard cheese grated
FILLING 2
- ½ - 1 banana ripe
- 1- 2 tsp plain white caster sugar
- ½ - 1 tsp cinnamon powder
OTHER
- 1 egg or eggwhite for sealing the dough
- sunflower oil for frying
Instructions
- Make the dough: Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add butter and rub in until crumbly. In another bowl, mix one egg with cachaça (or vodka), warm water, and salt. Combine with flour mixture and knead for 15 minutes until smooth and soft.
- Roll and fold: Place dough on a clean surface (no flour needed). Roll it out thinly, fold in half, and repeat several times to build elasticity. You can use the dough right away, but letting it rest for 15–30 minutes at room temperature helps relax the gluten, making it easier to roll out thinly without springing back.
- Fill the dough: Cut dough into squares. Beat an egg (or just the white) for sealing. Add grated cheese to some squares and banana-sugar-cinnamon mix to others. Brush edges with egg, fold over, seal with fingers, then press with a fork. Pressing the edges with a fork helps seal the pastel securely and gives it that classic crimped look.
- Fry: Heat oil in a deep pan. Fry pastéis for about 2 minutes per side over medium heat, until golden and blistered.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Each pastel has around 130 calories with the banana filling and about 150 cals with the cheese filling. These values are estimates and can vary depending on the exact ingredients and amounts used, especially the type of cheese and how much oil is absorbed during frying.