Muéganos

Method

1. 1 Knead the flour with lard, eggs, and a little water for 10 minutes, then let it rest for 30 minutes.
2. 2 Roll out the dough to a thickness of 2 mm, then cut it into 2 cm squares.
3. 3 Fry the square pieces at 170 degrees for 2 minutes until puffed up and light golden brown.
4. 4 Boil palm sugar with cinnamon, star anise, and 150 ml of water until it reaches 118 degrees Celsius.
5. 5 The syrup must reach 118 degrees to be sticky enough to bind the ingredients together; anything less and the cake will fall apart.
6. 6 Pour the batter into the syrup, mix quickly, then press into a square mold and let cool for 30 minutes before cutting.

With an appliance

• Air fryer 59 min

  Replace step 3: lightly spray oil onto the square dough pieces, fry in an air fryer at 185 degrees for 7 minutes, shake the basket at the 4th minute to make the cakes puff up and turn golden; steps 4 to 6 still involve cooking the syrup and pressing into molds.