Struffoli Recipe

MAKE THE STRUFFOLI DOUGH

1. Melt the butter in a double boiler and let it cool. In a large bowl, mix together the flour with the baking powder and a pinch of salt.
2. Add the sugar, melted butter and the liquor.
3. Make a hole in the center and add the eggs. Mix the ingredients with the help of a wooden spoon. Finally add the grated orange zest.
4. Mix the ingredien with the spoon. Continue to knead with your hands, until you get a homogeneous dough, free of lumps.
5. Wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
6. After the resting time, cut the dough into equal parts. With your flat hands, roll each piece on the work surface as if to make a cylinder about 1 cm (about ½ inch) thick.
7. Slice the roll of dough with the help of a small knife into many pieces of 1 cm (½ inch) in size.
8. At this step you can leave your Sruffoli in small pieces or give them the shape of balls by rolling them between the palms of your hands.

HOW TO FRY STRUFFOLI

1. Use a high-sided saucepan, Place it on the heat with the vegetable oil for frying. Bring the oil to 180°C (356 F). Fry Struffoli few at a time, so that you can better control the cooking, turning them a couple of times. In 30-40 seconds they will be ready. Struffoli are ready to perfection when they are a golden color.
2. Drain them with a skimmer and place on a serving dish, covered with absorbent kitchen paper.

DECORATE

1. In a saucepan that can contain all the struffoli, pour almost all the honey and some rainbow sprinkles. Heat over very low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. This step is to make the honey more liquid and more malleable.
2. Turn off the heat and add the struffoli. Add one more tablespoon of sprinkles and mix all together.
3. When all the Struffoli are wrapped in honey and sprinkles, immediately transfer them, still hot, to a serving dish. Don't wait too long for this. When the honey cools it begins to harden and it becomes difficult to shape it. In fact, now you can give them the shape you prefer, for example the classic pyramid.
4. Place a glass in the center of the plate. With a spoon, arrange the hot struffoli all around the glass and let them cool.
5. Decorate with more sprinkles and some candid fruit. When they are cold, you can remove the glass.Struffoli Napoletani are ready to be served or wrapped to make a delicious and original Christmas gift to your friends or relatives.