Tulumba Dessert Recipe

In the category of syrup desserts, my favorite dessert after şekerpare is a well-made tulumba dessert. What I mean by good is a rare thing like an Anatolian tiger, which is crunchy outside, soft inside, but not excessively syrupy, fried in good oil and without the smell of burnt oil. As I said, it's rare.

Şekerpare is a slightly more guaranteed dessert. It's usually nice. I don't even remember that I have ever eaten a very bad şekerpare. Maybe that's why I like the şekerpare more than tulumba. Otherwise, tulumba is a very likable dessert. But it has a lot of conditions to be delicious. Since there is deep frying process and tulumba is generally a store bought dessert, it is very, very unlikely that that oil has not been used dozens of times and is not a burnt oil. As such, my first choice among syrup desserts is not tulumba. Of course, it is possible to make the cleanest and healthiest tulumba dessert at home using the best oil. But when you make such an arduous dessert, you cannot make just three pieces. The amount is huge and they are eaten all the way. When eaten, weight is gained and health goes away, etc.

Still I do it from time to time, but only once or twice a year. Although the excess dessert can be stored, it is not as good as the day it is made, in my opinion. On the other hand, for example, şekerpare can be stored in the refrigerator for days, and it is also very tasty after days. I've made the calculation of this long before the pastel de nata recipe. Some recipes really aren't worth making at home.

Of course, there are some situations where it's worth it. For example, it is worth making tulumba dessert for your guests or crowded family gatherings. Or, if you live abroad and cannot find a tulumba dessert whenever you want, it is worth making it just for yourself. There are probably other reasons that I can't think of. But if you can see a tulumba seller when you leave the house and if you have the chance to buy two pieces and eat them whenever you want, it makes no sense to spend so much ingredients, time and effort.

Let me list the things you need to know about the recipe;

• Make sure to prepare the syrup in advance and chill it in the refrigerator. You can prepare it a day ahead if you wish.
• After preparing the dough, you MUST wait for the dough to cool COMPLETELY before adding the eggs.
• Its dough is similar to profiteroles, but the consistency is a little different because of the amount of the flour. So if you want to use a hand mixer after adding the eggs, you can bend the tip of the mixer. Therefore, kneading by hand is less risky. You can also knead the dough with the kneading tip of a stand mixer, if available.
• The dough is squeezed into the cold oil. When the the stove is turned on, the dough starts to heat up and cook the dough pieces slowly while it is in the oil. But when you can't fit all of the dough into the pan, you have to squeeze it into hot oil in the second time. At this point, I will share a trick to eliminate the possibility of the dough suddenly falling into the oil and splashing oil, and to start cooking at the same time. You can squeeze the dough on a greaseproof paper that can fit in your pan and put it in the oil together with the greaseproof paper. As soon as the dough meets the hot oil, they start to separate from the paper and at that point you can pull it out.
• After the tulumbas are fried, they are placed in cold syrup immediately. When removing the tulumbas from the oil, strain them very well so that they do not spoil the consistency of the syrup. If too much oil enters the syrup and loosens its consistency, the tulumbas absorb oil along with the syrup and soften.
• Do not leave the tulumbas in the syrup for too long. Five minutes is enough for them to fully absorb the syrup. More will cause the crust to soften as well.
• After removing the tulumbas from the syrup, put them in a strainer. In this way, the syrup on them will drain and flow and tulumbas will not soften as they will not wait in the syrup.

Enjoy the recipe...

Bon appetit...