Back to the Yeasty Beasty! Frittelle anyone?

February 19, 2013 - 1:38am

greedybread

Back to the Yeasty Beasty! Frittelle anyone?

Si, si, si per favore!! I have to say these little beauties (in general) are gorgeous and so easy to make .

The ones in Venezia are sublime, especially the ones with the pastry creme in them.

Heavenly.

I have seen other variations throughout Italy but i didn't take much notice at the time:( They were selling something similar at night in Siena at the odd stall around the city.

Not at Palio time, in winter.......

So this my Frittelle friends, is what we are aiming for!!

: Assorted Frittelle mmmmmm

Lets get Yeasty!!

: Fritelle dough

Ingredients:

4 cups of flour, I used strong bread
1/2 cup of castor sugar
½ tsp salt
2 eggs
1 & 3/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp dried yeast
6-8 cups oil for frying err preferably NOT fat.
1 jar Nutella err, not quite as large as this one in my photo!!
2 tsp cinnamon for garnishing
1 cup castor sugar for garnishing

A big Beasty!!

Method:

In a bowl warm half the milk, add in the sugar to warmed milk until dissolved
Stir in the yeast.
Leave in warm place until creamy/frothy.
Place all dry ingredients in a bowl, flour and salt.
Stir the eggs and half of the milk together and add it to the flour mixture a little at a time.
Add the yeasty mixture to the flour mixture and stir until all the ingredients are combined.
The dough will be wet and sticky. Don't be alarmed!!
Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let rise for about 5 hours when it should have doubled in size.

: Pour that Oil in!!

On the matter of oil, my husband and I have often debated getting a mini fryer. He says no, we would put on 5-10 kgs in a VERY short time and sadly i think it is true but then when i make something like this, doughnuts, beignets or deep-fried ice cream balls, then we have this huge pot of oil (which i will filter) which will be on the stove for a while until its used. When I cook, i like to use olive oil but sadly the cost of filling a pot with olive oil would make the cost of the frittelle astronomical! The kids use the oil and make chips a few times (but that for them is LABOUR intensive) and i will slowly chip away at it but i do wonder, " mini fryer"? Would be easier and i could just pop it in the cupboard. Hmmm, more pondering maybe?

: Hmmm wondering???

Back to the dough:

Prepare the sugar and cinnamon mix on a large plate.
When the dough is ready, stir it again. It should be sticky. If it's not, add a little more milk.
In a heavy pot for frying, heat the oil . I don't have a thermometer but i usually test the heat by putting a wee piece of raw food in it. My granddad used to spit in the oil!!
Spoon the dough batter into the oil. I used a tablespoon but the original recipe used an ice cream scoop. Not plastic obviously!!
Fry until the frittelle are cooked through, about 5 minutes. I like to turn them over with tongs. They brown pretty quickly. Don't overcrowd your pot as they will take longer to cook .
Remove the frittelle with a slotted spoon and place on a plate covered with paper towels to drain.
Once drained, quickly roll them in the sugar.
Poke a hole in the frittelle and fill a pastry bag fitted with a tip with Nutella and pipe Nutella into each frittelle.
Best eaten when warm.
Don't forget the most important thing!! Enjoy, enjoy and enjoy!!

: yummmm

: Almost all gone

: filled with Nutella

P.S : You can easily insert other delights into these, white chocolate, milk chocolate, jam, pastry creme, cream, moro bars err perhaps not cream, the list is endless........But things that hold shape and have some heat resistant are probably better. My son seemed to think jelly lollies would be nice!! I don't think so............You could, if you were really adventurous, make it a savoury recipe but that we will look at another day :)