Andalusian honey and anise fritters (Pestiños)

1. Peel the orange zest in a thin strip and squeeze the juice. In a small pan heat the olive oil with the orange peel, take off the heat, stir in the anise and sesame seeds and leave to cool until lukewarm; remove the peel.

2. In a bowl mix the flour with the salt, pour the flavoured oil, white wine and 4 tablespoons of orange juice into the centre and knead into a smooth, elastic, non-sticky dough; cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

3. Roll the dough out thinly (2 mm) on a floured surface, cut into 8×8 cm squares and fold two opposite corners over each other in the middle, pressing them together (forming a small "boat" shape).

4. Heat the oil to 170 °C in a deep pan and fry the pestiños in batches for 2-3 minutes, turning once, until golden; drain on kitchen paper.

5. Boil the honey with the water and the remaining orange juice in a pan for 2-3 minutes, then dip the pestiños in one by one and leave to drain on a rack.

6. Once cool, they keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Tip: They're made at Christmas and in Holy Week – the wine evaporates completely during frying, leaving only a crisp, light pastry behind.