Carnival Flower Fritters (Traditional Spanish Recipe)

If there is one traditional sweet that never fails at parties and celebrations, it’s crisp fried flowers with sugar and cinnamon. With their delicate shape and light texture, these little golden wonders have been passed down from generation to generation, becoming a staple of Spanish homemade baking.

Making them at home is much easier than it seems (even more so if you pay attention to a few tricks and tips I leave you in the recipe and in the final notes so they turn out great). You’ll see that with just a few ingredients and the special mold to make them, you’ll get perfect fried flowers: thin, crunchy, and with that hint of anise that makes them so irresistible. The best part is you can enjoy them freshly made or keep them for several days without losing their texture crunchy.

Follow the step by step and discover how to make traditional fried flowers with all the tricks so they turn out perfect the first time. Depending on the region you’re in, it may be a typical recipe for Holy Week, Lent, Carnival, romerías, or you might make it at Christmas. But you can enjoy it every Sunday! Will you tell us how they turned out? We’d love to hear from you!

Ingredients

• 280 ml whole milk
• 180 g flour
• 1 L egg
• A pinch of salt
• 50 ml sweet anise liqueur
  
• Sugar and cinnamon for coating*
• Sunflower oil for frying

Good to know:

• *You can use approximately 1 g of cinnamon for every 10 g of sugar, or in other words, 10 g of cinnamon for every 100 g of sugar.
• Optionally, you can add orange or lemon zest to make variations or change up the usual flavor.

Step-by-step preparation of the fried flowers

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl and add a pinch of salt. Add the egg and the milk little by little, whisking by hand until you get a smooth mixture. Add the sweet anise and keep stirring until well combined. To avoid lumps and achieve a finer texture, you can use an immersion blender on low speed for a few seconds.
2. Let the batter rest for 30 minutes so the bubbles disappear (the air incorporated during beating). This resting step is key for the flowers to form properly when frying.
3. Fill a deep iron skillet De Buyer with plenty of oil (preferably sunflower, otherwise olive) and heat it up.
4. Place the Nordic Ware flower mold in the oil from the moment you start heating the skillet with the oil (place the mold without batter, just so it heats well, as this will help the batter adhere properly).
5. When the oil is at the ideal temperature (between 205 and 215°C), dip the hot mold into the batter without reaching the top edge. Then immediately transfer it to the hot oil and hold it steady without letting go, submerging the batter completely in the oil.
6. After a few seconds, the flower will start to release from the mold on its own. If it doesn’t, shake it gently until it comes loose.
7. Let the flower fry until golden and crisp. Then, remove it carefully and place it on paper towels to absorb excess oil.
8. When the flowers are warm, coat them in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon or, if you prefer, dust them lightly.
9. Store the flowers in an airtight container in a cool, dry place so they stay crisp longer.

In the following video you’ll see how to use the Nordic Ware flower mold in a general way and how the batter releases from the mold when it’s done:

Tricks and tips for perfect fried flowers:

• Mixing the batter: Don’t overbeat the mixture—just enough to combine the ingredients well. If you use an immersion blender, do it at the lowest speed to avoid incorporating too much air, as that can affect the texture of the flowers.
• Essential resting time: Letting the batter rest for about 30 minutes helps the bubbles disappear and makes the flowers crisper and well formed. It’s a simple detail, but it makes the difference.
• Fry in iron! You know I’m a super fan of the Mineral De Buyer range, but nothing holds temperature like iron, and you get excellent frying results (and heat doesn’t damage iron the way it can damage nonstick pans).
• Anise to taste: The recipe uses 50 ml of sweet anise, but you can adjust it as you prefer. If you want a subtler flavor, reduce the amount or mix with a bit of milk. If you like a stronger anise note, you can add a little more.
• Oil for frying: You can use mild olive oil or sunflower oil. Olive oil withstands high temperatures better and adds a bit more flavor, while sunflower oil is more neutral and classic for fried pastries. Both options work well.
• Key temperature: The oil should be between 205 and 215°C. If it’s too cool, the batter won’t release well from the mold and the flowers will absorb too much oil. If it’s too hot, they’ll brown too quickly on the outside and be raw inside.
• The mold! With this recipe we’ve debuted the new Nordic Ware fried flower mold, a very special mold because it also lets you make cones with mini bundt-style accessories. But you can use the traditional fried flower mold if you prefer.
• Keep the fried flower mold hot: An important trick: leave the mold in the oil while it heats and put it back into the oil after each flower. If it’s not hot enough, the batter won’t stick properly and the flowers won’t turn out well.
• Sugar and cinnamon in the right ratio: For coating, the ideal is 100 g of sugar for every 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon. If you like it spicier, you can increase the amount of cinnamon a bit.
• How to keep them nice and crisp: Once cool, store them in an airtight container in a dry, cool place. They’ll stay crisp for days and be perfect to enjoy anytime.

History and curiosities of fried flowers

Did you know that fried flowers have their origin in traditional Medieval pastry? I find it as curious as it is lovely: as fried flowers are a sweet with centuries of history in Spanish baking, and it’s believed their origin lies in medieval fritters, when convents and homes made fried sweets with simple ingredients like flour, egg, milk, and sugar. Over time they’ve been adapted and popularized in different regions of Spain (especially in regions like Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, La Rioja, and Extremadura), and likewise in other countries. Their distinctive shape came later, when iron molds with floral designs began to be used.

Traditionally, they’re prepared at Holy Week, Carnival, and patron festivals—times when fried desserts were very common because they were made with simple, affordable ingredients like flour, milk, egg, and sugar. In the past, making fried flowers was almost a family ritual, and in many homes the recipe is still passed down from generation to generation.

Although in Spain they’re a classic, there are imilar versions in other parts of the world:

• Mexico: They’re called buñuelos de viento or carnival flowers and are very typical at Christmas and religious festivities.
• Portugal: They’re known as filhós en flor and are also festive sweets.
• Nordic countries and the U.S.: They’re called rosettes and are made mostly at Christmas, especially in communities of Swedish and Norwegian origin.

Despite the passage of time, fried flowers remain an irresistible sweet that everyone loves for their crunchy texture and delicate flavor. Although they may seem more complicated to make, with the right tricks they turn out perfectly and are a delicious way to keep tradition alive. So if you’ve never tried them… now you have no excuse!