It’s Christmas and here in Italy one of the ubiquitous symbols of this period is the famous Panettone. However, this cake, which is originally from Milano, only became popular throughout Italy thanks to the food companies Motta and Alemagna, who began to produce it on an industrial scale in the Fifties.

In Napoli, on the other hand, the traditional Christmas sweets are called Struffoli, which are small fried sweet pastries whose origins are said to go back to the ancient Greeks. Struffoli are in fact popular throughout the south of Italy, however their name and shape tends to differ from region to region: in Molise and Abruzzo they are called ‘cicerchiata’, in Puglia ‘purceddruzzi’, and in Calabria ‘turdiddi’. Here is the recipe:

Preparation:

Sift the flour into a mound on a clean work surface. Make a well in the centre, and add all the eggs including the extra yolk, sugar, butter, liqueur, grated lemon rind, and salt. Knead well for at least 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic, then leave it to rest for half an hour. Divide the dough into several equal pieces roughly the size of a small orange, and using the palms of your hands roll each ball of dough on the floured work surface in order to make a sausage shape roughly as thick as a finger. Cut each sausage into small pieces, about 2 cm long, and spread them out on a floured tea towel.

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan, sieve the struffoli to remove any excess flour, and deep fry them in small batches. Remove the struffoli from the oil when they turn a nice golden colour, and put them on some kitchen paper to drain.

Put the honey in a ceramic mixing bowl big enough to contain all the struffoli, then place the bowl in a saucepan containing boiling water. When the honey is melted remove it from the heat and add all the fried struffoli, gently mixing them until they are well coated. Add half of the ‘Hundreds and Thousands’ and candied peels and mix again.

While the honey is still warm pile the struffoli up on a serving plate, and decorate them with the remaining ‘Hundreds and Thousands’ and candied peels. Alternatively, you can put a glass jar in the centre of the serving plate, and arrange the struffoli around it in order to create circular shape a bit like a as a doughnut. When the honey has hardened gently remove the jar.

N.B. The traditional recipe is made without any baking powder or raising agent, therefore the struffoli come out quite crispy. Therefore, if you prefer them a bit lighter, add a teaspoon of baking powder to the ingredients, and leave the dough to rest for several hours before shaping it.

Buon Appetito!