Struffoli
In Naples, Christmas is hard to imagine without struffoli. They are hundreds of tiny balls of egg dough, fried golden and tossed with warm honey, shaped into a wreath or cone and decorated with candied peel and colourful sprinkles. The balls are crisp outside and slightly soft within, and the citrus-scented honey binds them together. They can be made a day or two ahead. Cutting the dough is the most work, so it helps to enlist someone.
Your own work in that: 55 min.
- Dough 10 min
- Resting the dough 30 min
- Rolling and cutting 30 min
- Frying in batches 30 min
- Honey and shaping 15 min
- Setting 60 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneMake the dough
Set aside 2 tablespoons of the flour for dusting. Mix the rest with the sugar, salt and orange zest. Add the eggs and butter and knead to a smooth, soft dough, about 5 minutes. Wrap in film.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 3 pcs eggs · 30 g butter, softened · 1 tbsp sugar · 1 pcs orange, grated zest · 1 pinch salt · 1000 ml oil for frying
Rest the dough
Leave the dough 30 minutes at room temperature to relax.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 3 pcs eggs · 30 g butter, softened · 1 tbsp sugar · 1 pcs orange, grated zest · 1 pinch salt · 1000 ml oil for frying
Roll ropes and cut
Tear off pieces of dough and roll them under your palms on the worktop into ropes 1 cm thick. Cut into 1 cm lengths and spread them on a tray dusted with the reserved flour so they do not stick. The whole batch makes about 500 pieces — in the oil they puff up to hazelnut size.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 3 pcs eggs · 30 g butter, softened · 1 tbsp sugar · 1 pcs orange, grated zest · 1 pinch salt · 1000 ml oil for frying
Centimetre pieces — they grow in the oil.Fry in batches
Heat the oil in a pan to 170–175°C. Before frying, shake off the excess flour in a sieve — it would burn in the oil. Fry the balls by the handful 2–3 minutes until golden and lift out with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper. Do not add too many at once — the oil cools and the balls soak up fat. Frying all the batches takes about 30 minutes.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 3 pcs eggs · 30 g butter, softened · 1 tbsp sugar · 1 pcs orange, grated zest · 1 pinch salt · 1000 ml oil for frying
By the handful, until golden — keep the oil hot.Warm the honey
In a wide pan warm the honey with the sugar over low heat until runny and just bubbling, about 3 minutes. Do not boil it longer — it hardens as it cools.
Ingredients: 250 g runny honey · 1 tbsp sugar · 50 g candied orange peel and cherries · 10 g coloured sprinkles
Toss the balls in honey
Take the pan off the heat, tip in all the balls and stir with a spatula until each is coated in honey. Add half the candied peel.
Ingredients: 250 g runny honey · 1 tbsp sugar · 50 g candied orange peel and cherries · 10 g coloured sprinkles
Off the heat — every ball in honey.Shape a wreath
Wait about 5 minutes for the honey to cool enough not to burn. Tip the balls onto a plate and shape with wet hands into a wreath around a glass or into a cone. Decorate with the rest of the peel and the sprinkles.
Ingredients: 250 g runny honey · 1 tbsp sugar · 50 g candied orange peel and cherries · 10 g coloured sprinkles
Leave to set
Leave the struffoli an hour for the honey to set and the wreath to hold its shape. Serve, pulling the balls off with a spoon or your fingers.
Ingredients: 250 g runny honey · 1 tbsp sugar · 50 g candied orange peel and cherries · 10 g coloured sprinkles
Before you start
With liqueur
Many Neapolitan recipes add a spoonful of anise liqueur or limoncello to the dough. It adds aroma, and the alcohol itself evaporates during frying.
Safe frying
Fry in a deep pan filled no more than halfway with oil, and never leave it unattended. A kitchen thermometer helps keep 170–175°C.
Storage
Struffoli keep up to a week under a cake dome or loosely covered, at room temperature. After a day the honey partly soaks in and the balls soften slightly.
