Name: Turrón de Doña Pepa
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 85 min
Total time: 275 min
Cuisine: Peruvian cuisine
Ingredients: 450 g plain wheat flour; 220 g vegetable shortening, cold, cut into cubes; 90 g egg yolks, from roughly 5 large eggs; 10 g baking powder; 4 g anise seeds; 4 g fine salt; 100 ml water, cold, for pastry; 500 g chancaca (unrefined cane sugar), chopped; 200 g apple, cored and roughly chopped; 150 g pineapple, in large pieces; 120 g orange, cut into pieces with peel washed; 4 g cinnamon stick; 2 g whole cloves; 650 ml water, for syrup; 50 g multicoloured candy sprinkles, label-checked for allergens

Turrón de Doña Pepa with anise pastry and chancaca

Yield 12 small squares

Prep time 40 minutes

Cook time 85 minutes

Passive time 150 minutes

Total time 275 minutes

Ingredients ↓

Overview

Turrón de Doña Pepa with anise pastry and chancaca

Turrón de Doña Pepa is a particular Lima sweet made from anise-flavoured pastry sticks, spiced dark syrup and small brightly coloured decorations. Its association with October celebrations gives it a recognizable place in Lima's sweet-making calendar. It should not be confused with unrelated nougats or whipped egg-white turrón formulas.

The pastry depends on shortening rubbed into flour, producing a friable stick rather than a chewy bread-like dough. Even batons bake consistently and create layers that can be bound by the syrup. Gentle mixing is important: prolonged kneading develops gluten and undermines the short, tender texture.

The sauce is equally important to the identity. Chancaca brings a dark cane-sugar flavour, with fruit and spices simmered into the liquid and then strained out. Syrup that is too thin will leak from the layers; syrup boiled too far becomes rigid rather than slightly sticky. The assembled slab needs time to settle before cutting.

Ingredients

Anise pastry

450 g plain wheat flour
220 g vegetable shortening, cold, cut into cubes
90 g egg yolks, from roughly 5 large eggs
10 g baking powder
4 g anise seeds
4 g fine salt
100 ml water, cold, for pastry

Chancaca-and-fruit syrup

500 g chancaca (unrefined cane sugar), chopped
200 g apple, cored and roughly chopped
150 g pineapple, in large pieces
120 g orange, cut into pieces with peel washed
4 g cinnamon stick
2 g whole cloves
650 ml water, for syrup

Decoration

50 g multicoloured candy sprinkles, label-checked for allergens

Method

Rub shortening into pastry flour.Combine 450 g flour, 10 g baking powder, 4 g anise and 4 g salt in a bowl. Rub in 220 g cold shortening until the mix resembles coarse crumbs; work for about 8 minutes. The fat is dispersed as small, distinct crumbs with no greasy paste.
Bind and form pastry dough.Stir in 90 g yolks and 100 ml cold water. Bring together gently for 7 minutes, using light pressure rather than kneading it like bread. The mass holds together without dry seams yet does not feel elastic.
Rest the pastry in the refrigerator.Wrap and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes so the fat firms and the batons can be shaped cleanly. The dough is cool, firm enough to handle and no longer sticky.
Roll the anise sticks.Divide dough evenly and roll into short batons roughly 1 cm thick and 18–20 cm long. Lay on a lined tray with a little space between each stick. The sticks are similar in thickness so they will bake at the same rate.
Bake the pastry in two turns.Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Bake the batons in two separate tray loads for 22 minutes per tray until firm and lightly browned at the edges; exchange trays only after removing the first load. The sticks are dry and firm through their centres rather than soft or raw. Use oven gloves and keep fragile baked sticks supported by the tray.
Infuse the fruit in chancaca.Combine 500 g chopped chancaca, 200 g apple, 150 g pineapple, 120 g orange, 4 g cinnamon, 2 g cloves and 650 ml water. Simmer on medium-low heat for 25 minutes. The chancaca dissolves fully, the fruit softens and the liquid smells warmly spiced.
Strain and concentrate the syrup.Strain out fruit and spices, return the liquid to the saucepan and simmer another 16 minutes until syrupy enough to ribbon off a spoon; take care not to caramelize it into hard candy. A ribbon of syrup remains momentarily visible on the surface before disappearing. Sugar syrup can cause serious burns.
Layer sticks with syrup.Line a 20 × 25 cm pan with baking paper. Arrange a layer of baked sticks, spoon over some warm syrup and repeat with alternating directions until all pastry and syrup are used. Syrup wets each layer without leaving dry pockets or flooding the pan.
Finish with coloured sprinkles.Scatter the 50 g candy sprinkles evenly over the sticky top. Press only lightly, so the batons remain recognizable beneath the decoration. The topping adheres and the pastry layers are still distinct.
Allow the stack to set.Leave the assembled turrón covered in a cool clean place for 120 minutes, then cut into twelve neat squares with a sharp knife. The slab slices without collapsing and the syrup binds the layers together.

Practical

Success points

Keep the sticks roughly equal in thickness and count both oven loads. Check syrup texture with a cooled spoon rather than touching hot sugar. Allow the assembled layers to rest fully before slicing to avoid crumbling.

Practical guidance

Cut the turrón into twelve small squares. Each piece should reveal short pastry sticks bound with dark syrup, not a homogeneous cake crumb. The brightly coloured sprinkles belong to the finishing appearance and should be added before the syrup sets. Pastry sticks and syrup may be made ahead separately; store cooled sticks in an airtight dry container and chilled syrup covered in the refrigerator until assembly. Warm chilled syrup gently only until fluid enough to layer. Store assembled pieces in a cool, dry, covered container for up to two days if the room is reliably cool, or refrigerate for longer storage up to four days. Keep away from direct heat and high humidity, which soften the layers. Panela sold as an unrefined cane block is a possible substitute for chancaca if needed, but flavour and concentration may vary. A generic white-sugar caramel lacks the same cane depth; candy sprinkles must also be checked for their actual ingredient allergens.

Control points

Pastry sticks breakThe dough was too dry or rolled too thin. Bind all measured water and keep batons approximately 1 cm thick.
Slab will not holdSyrup was too runny or cutting began before the set time. Cook it to ribboning consistency and allow the full rest.

Nutrition per serving

Serving sizeone of twelve squares (about 130 g)
Calories520 kcal
Carbohydrates70 g
Protein5 g
Fat25 g
Fibre2 g
Sodium180 mg

Allergens and food safety

Wheat (gluten) and egg; multicoloured sprinkles may introduce milk, soy, nuts or other allergens depending on label. Bake pastry thoroughly and refrigerate egg-based raw dough until use. Avoid touching boiling sugar syrup. Wash fruit peels used in the syrup and check sprinkle ingredient labels; store assembled sweet covered and cool.

Closing

Result: Anise-flavoured short pastry sticks layered with spiced chancaca-and-fruit syrup and multicoloured sprinkles.
Key control: Keep the sticks roughly equal in thickness and count both oven loads.