This is a typical italian recipe that all moms prepare for Carnevale along with the traditional carnival sweet called “Crostoli” (sweet fritters). Really easy to make and your kids, husband, friends will love it!

Here the ingredients:

3 eggs

70gr of sugar

60gr of raisins

300gr of flour

100ml of milk

1tsp of yeast

orange zest

2/3 tbsp orange juice

60ml of grappa or another liquor ( like rhum)

sunflower oil for frying

icing sugar for decoration

First of all you have to soak the raisins in warm water and grappa for at least 20 minutes.

Then you start mixing the rest of the ingredient beginning with eggs and sugar, then add the milk, the orange zest and juice, the sift flour+yeast and at last the drained sultanas. (the original recipe doesn’t include vanilla extract but I just loved it so much that I added a tsp).

You should let the dough rise for an hour. I didnt want to wait so I actually cooked them straight 😉

Preheat the oil to medium-high heat (190°C /375°F). If you do not have a thermometer to test the temperature of the oil, you should stick the handle of a wooden spoon a cm or two into the hot oil. If bubbles emerge rapidly from the handle, then the oil is ready.

Prepare a plate with some kitchen paper so that once the frittelle are cooked, you can place them there and the excess oil will be absorbed.

Take two spoons and form little balls (as big as a nut) that you will drop into the hot oil. Let them fry for around 2 minutes or until you see them puffed and golden.

Drain them on the paper towel and sift some icing sugar on the top.

If you have more time, you can prepare some “crema pasticcera” (custard cream), poke a little hole on each “frittella” and using a piping bag, you can fill each frittella with some custard. If you really want to try something different, be naughty and instead of custard cream you can use Nutella!!

TIP Don’t fry too many frittelle all at once or you will reduce the temperature of the oil, and the frittelle won’t cook properly. Just drop a few each time. The tricky part of this recipe is maintaining the oil always at the same temperature.

Buon Carnevale!