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These puffy fritters are staples all across central Italy
for Carnevale. In the Marche, a touch of aniseed adds an aromatic note.
- 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon aniseed
- 6 eggs, beaten to blend
- 1 tablespoon rum
- 1 cup whole milk, plus extra if needed
- 4 and 1/3 cups extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and aniseed
in a large bowl. Add the eggs, rum, milk, 1/3 cup of the olive oil, the vanilla
extract, and the lemon zest. Stir the ingredients together until they form a
batter, adding a little milk if needed to obtain a soft, smooth batter.
Heat the remaining olive oil until it registers 350°
on a thermometer. Drop in a few spoonfuls of the batter at a time; use two teaspoons
to drop the batter into the hot oil, and be careful not to splash yourself.
Fry the castagnole until they are golden on both sides and puffy, about 2 minutes,
turning once. Remove with a slotted spoon to a platter lined with paper towels;
blot dry.
Continue with the remaining batter, checking on the temperature
of the oil between batches and letting it come back to 350° before dropping
in more batter if necessary (frying at too low a temperature yields soggy castagnole).
Dust the castagnole with sifted confectioner's sugar and serve hot, with a glass
of dessert wine. Serves 10
Copyright © 2006, Italian Cooking and Living. All rights reserved.
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