Scarlett WStruffoli (Neapolitan Christmas Fritters)
December 18th 2007 10:57
Struffoli
About Struffoli
These little fried cookies are served all over southern Italy at Christmas time. This particular recipe comes from Naples. There is a wonderful story associated with them that shows just how irresistible they are … A Neapolitan woman left a large dish of homemade Struffoli on the back seat of her car. She was so busy with her Christmas shopping that she forgot to lock the door and a man stole them. He was caught and duly appeared in court charged with theft. Since he had been caught red-handed, things did not look good. But when the judge learned what he had stolen the culprit was absolved since “no one could resist such a prize”. The woman was admonished in future to hide her goodies and lock her car. This is a true story!
About Fritters
A fritter is any kind of food coated in batter and deep fried. The word comes from the Latin frictura (“frying”) by way of Old French and Middle English. It can refer to a dessert, a side dish or a main course food.
In British fish and chip shops, the fish and chips can be accompanied by fritters, which means a food item (such as a slice of potato, a pineapple ring, an apple ring or some mushy peas) fried in batter. Hence: potato fritter, pineapple fritter, apple fritter, pea fritter, etc.
In most Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, it is common for a variety of fritters (such as yam, sweet potato and banana) to be fried by the roadside in a large wok and sold as snacks.
About Strega (Liqueur)
Strega (or Liquore Strega), is an Italian herbal liqueur produced since 1860 by the S.A. Distilleria Liquore Strega in Benevento, Campania, Italy. Its yellow colour comes from the presence of saffron in its recipe. Liquore Strega is considered a digestif, meant for drinking after meals.
Strega has a similar appearance to Galliano (though less vibrantly yellow). It is slightly sweet, semi-viscous, and has a bold, complex flavour with strong minty or coniferous notes. Strega is used for flavouring torta caprese, a type of cake.
About Anise Liqueur
Anise liqueurs, is a category of liqueurs that are flavoured with either anis, star anise, or licorice. Examples include anisette and pastis from France, ouzo and mistra from Greece, anesone and sambuca from Italy, anis and ojen from Spain, and kasra from Libya.
About Sprinkles
Sprinkles are very small pieces of confectionary used as a decoration or to add texture to desserts – typically cakes or cupcakes, cookies, doughnuts, ice cream, and some puddings. The candies are usually too small to be eaten individually and are in any case not intended to be eaten by themselves, being nearly flavourless. However, it’s a Dutch custom to use chocolate sprinkles as sandwich topping for sandwiches with sweet contents.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 10
3½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
4 eggs
2 tablespoons superfine sugar
½ cup liqueur (Strega or anise)
pinch of salt
2 cups oil, for frying
¾ cup honey
1 cup each candied orange and lemon peel, diced
¼ cup sprinkles
1. Combine the flour with the eggs, sugar, liqueur, and salt in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth and well-mixed. Set aside to rest for 2 hours.
2. Scoop out tablespoonfuls of the dough and roll them into sticks about the thickness of a pencil.
3. Cut into pieces about ½ inch long.
4. Heat the oil to very hot in a large skillet and fry the fritters in small batches until light golden brown.
5. Scoop the fritters out of the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
6. Heat the honey in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan until thoroughly melted.
7. Add the Struffoli and the candied orange and lemon peels.
8. Stir carefully until they are all coated with honey.
9. Place the Struffoli on a serving dish.
10. Decorate with the sprinkles and serve.
**From “The Encyclopedia of Italian Cooking” and “Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”**
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