Neapolitan STRUFFOLI Recipe
Neapolitan struffoli, for those who don’t know them, are small and soft balls of dough first fried and then caramelized in honey and decorated with colored sprinkles.
Struffoli are a typically Christmas dessert even though they are now produced practically all year round and are very popular in every family and pastry shop in southern Italy.
A dessert of very ancient origins with a simple but aromatic dough based on flour, eggs, sugar, butter and aniseed liqueur. Once fried, this dessert melts in your mouth and has a caramelized crust.
The recipe we will prepare today is from my grandmother, who has always prepared it in the same way for years.
Follow my recipe and together we will easily make super delicious Neapolitan STRUFFOLI that will remain fragrant even after many days!
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS for Struffoli
INGREDIENTS for decorating
- Power 662,53 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 55,21 (g) of which sugars 32,22 (g)
- Proteins 6,19 (g)
- Fat 47,98 (g) of which saturated 7,87 (g)of which unsaturated 38,23 (g)
- Fibers 1,19 (g)
- Sodium 98,18 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 50 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Tools
Steps
Dough preparation
Place flour, sugar, eggs, melted butter, grated orange zest and liqueur in a bowl and knead vigorously for a few minutes until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous dough.
Then leave it to rest covered with a cloth for about 30 minutes.
Struffoli creation
Once the rest time has passed, take the dough again and divide it into 6 parts from which you will obtain many rolls the length of a finger. With the knife, cut the rolls into many small pieces of dough of about one centimeter. Now you are ready to fry the struffoli.
Cooking Struffoli
Heat plenty of seed oil in a narrow but high-sided pan. When it is hot, start frying the struffoli a few at a time for a few minutes. They should become slightly golden. As soon as they are ready, drain them and let them dry on absorbent paper.
Struffoli decoration
In the meantime, put the honey in a saucepan and let it melt slightly, then add the cooled struffoli, the candied citron cut into cubes and colored sprinkles. Mix gently so as not to break them and finally arrange them on a serving plate.
STORAGE
Once ready, the struffoli last up to 10 days. They are not suitable for freezing.
NOTE
CANDIED FRUITS If you don’t like them you can leave out the candied fruit.
ANISE If you don’t have or don’t like anise you can easily use limoncello or any liqueur you prefer instead.
FRYIING When you fry them, remember that, as my grandmother used to say, the more oil you use, the less they will absorb.
HOW TO SERVE Normally, once ready, they are arranged in the shape of a donut and also used as a table centerpiece with perhaps a decoration in the center.
Varied doses for servings