Struffoli

Struffoli Neapolitans - the origins of Greek


The famous struffolis of Naples are not originating in Naples, but imagine how easy it would owe their birth to the Greeks. The name itself derives from the word 'strongoulos', or rounded, hence then rounded.These cakes in the shape of small balls have become popular in many other regions: in central Italy there is a version called 'cicerchiata' while in Basilicata and Calabria is the 'cicerata'. In Palermo, however, the difference is only in name because the word 'struffolis' lost one 'f' and becomes 'strufoli'.

Struffoli


Ingredients for 8 people:

Grated zest of ½ orange
60 g of butter
400 g of flour
½ lemon zest
½ cup of Rum
1 pinch of salt
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
40 grams of sugar




Put the flour in a bowl or on a plane in the classical form of a fountain in the center and add eggs, butter, sugar, liqueur, grated rind of lemon and a pinch of salt. Knead well and, once obtained a homogeneous and compact enough, by the shape of a ball and let it sit for half an hour covered with a clean cloth. Spent the half hour, working the dough for a few minutes and divide into many rods under a thick finger rolls on a lightly floured surface. At this point, cut the sticks into small pieces and arrange them on a towel, being careful not to overlap. Once ready, put the oil in a frying pan and fry the struffoli a bit 'at a time: prelevali puffy and golden, then cool on sgocciolali fouls and paper towels. To dry well and in the meantime, melt the honey gently in a pot large enough. When the honey is melted, turn off the heat and add the struffoli in the saucepan, stirring gently until they are well soaked in honey. Pour half of the tang and candied fruit in the pot, stirring it all again, then take a serving dish and distribute to the struffoli mound, the center of the pot or put an empty glass jar and you have all around this struffoli to form a donut. A honey is still warm, take the remaining candied fruit tang and sprinkle on struffolis, in order to achieve a pleasing aesthetic effect. If you opted for the donut shape, as soon as the honey will be solidified, carefully remove the jar from the center of the dish and serve struffoli.
If you want to get the most struffolis swollen, you can add to the mix a pinch of baking soda or ammonia for gentle, taking care, however, to let the dough rest for at least two hours.