Don Pablo’s was my favorite restaurant growing up. For years my parents would take us there after church. As a young adult I’d eat there at least once per week. I even worked there when I was a teenager. They had the best Tex-Mex food. Nothing compared to their chimichangas drenched in orange queso or their corn cake. Even their desserts were to die for. Who even says that about a chain Tex-Mex restaurant? Their apple skillet pie and sopapillas were the best I’ve ever had. The one common denominator was the dessert sauce doused on both. It’s called “brandy butter sauce,” and it’s in a league of its own.
While I never found out exactly what went into that brandy butter sauce, I figured it out after lots of trial and error in the kitchen. It’s a blend of melted salted butter, cinnamon, heavy whipping cream, Brandy liquor (just a small amount) and vanilla. The sauce gets melted down and poured over fried tortillas. If you can get tortillas from a Mexican restaurant it’s even more like the original. The tortillas from a restaurant are fresher and chewier and fry up beautifully. Store-bought will work as well.
When you fry the tortillas, just be aware when you flip them over in the oil, most will puff up. Don’t be alarmed. You can prick them or just let them settle when they cool down. Something that surprised me when frying the tortillas was how quickly they cook. It’s about 10 seconds per side if your oil is preheated. This is why it’s good to have your large mixing bowl of cinnamon and sugar ready to go. Use the residual oil on the tortillas to act as a binder for the cinnamon and sugar. Toss the tortillas right away and remove from the bowl before frying another batch.
Once all the tortillas have been fried add to a lined sheet pan and pour over the warm brandy butter sauce. Dust with powdered sugar and you’re ready to eat!
Don Pablo’s Sopapillas
Ingredients
Cinnamon Sugar
- 1/2 c sugar
- 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
Brandy Butter Sauce
- 8 tbsp salted butter (1 stick) Kerrygold
- 1 1/2 C powdered sugar
- 1/2 tbsp Brandy liquor
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 4 tbsp heavy whipping cream
Tortillas
- 8 burrito size flour tortillas
Instructions
- Add cinnamon and sugar to a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
- To a medium pot melt butter over medium heat.
- Add powdered sugar, cinnamon and heavy whipping cream and whisk until everything is melted together.
- Turn off the heat add Brandy and vanilla. Whisk and turn heat back on to low to stay warm.
- To a separate sauce pan preheat vegetable oil (1/4 inch of the way up in the pan) over medium heat until hot.
- While the oil preheats, cut flour tortillas in fourths.
- Fry a few tortilla pieces a time for 10 seconds per side.
- Immediatly toss in the cinnamon and sugar. Add to a plate.
- Once your
- Dust with powdered sugar.