Christmas sweets
Struffoli
Gennaro Contaldo
SERVES 8
Preparation 40 minutes
Cooking 10 minutes
This is an old recipe, traditionally a sweet treat for Christmas made by poor people in Naples. In our household, my mother, sisters, grandmother and aunts would begin making these a couple of weeks before Christmas. They'd fill bowls and plates with these small deep-fried pastries, beautifully decorated with candied peel to make them look festive. As the main course is finished, I can't wait to tuck into the deliciously sweet treats that remind me so much of home and those idyllic childhood Christmases!
for the dough
500g plain flour
5 eggs
50g unsalted butter, softened
75g sugar
grated rind of 1 lemon
grated rind of 1 orange
pinch of salt
2 tbsp Vin Santo or Marsala
oil for deep-frying
a couple of large pieces of orange zest
for the topping
300g runny honey
50g flaked almonds
50g candied fruit
zest of 2 mandarins, cut into fine julienne strips
silver balls to decorate
Mix the flour, salt and sugar together. Add the eggs, butter, Vin Santo, lemon zest and half the orange zest. Mix well to obtain a dough the consistency of shortcrust pastry. If you find it too dry add more Vin Santo, if your dough is too wet, add a little flour. Cover in clingfilm and place in the fridge for a couple of hours.
Take a little of the dough and roll into a thin sausage 1cm in diameter. Cut into small pieces 1cm in length. Continue until all the dough has been used, rolling each piece in a little flour. Place the honey on a large plate and set aside. In a large pan, heat the oil, add the rest of the orange zest for a minute or two, then remove and discard. Deep fry the pieces of dough a few at a time until golden. Scoop out and shake well to remove the excess oil. Place in the honey. Repeat until all the pastry has been cooked. Mix well with the honey, so that all the hot pieces of pastry absorb some. Leave to cool then scoop out, ensuring you get the excess honey too. Place in a clean bowl and stir in the almonds, candied fruit and strips of mandarin zest. Pile on a plate in the form of a pyramid and decorate with the silver balls.
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