Struffoli Traditional and Bimby Recipe.

They are a typical sweet from Campania. They are made at Christmas, but also at Carnival, they are a must for us… Close cousins of the Sicilian pignolata, with which they are often confused, but in reality, they are different both in form and icing. While struffoli are glazed with honey, pignolata, on the other hand, has a double chocolate or lemon white icing.

Today I present to you the recipe my grandmother used in her pastry shop in Messina.

To flavor this sweet, you can use either anise liqueur, Strega, or limoncello, depending on your taste.

In addition to the traditional and Bimby preparation, you will also find instructions for 3 cooking methods: oven, fried in a pot, and air fryer.

Ingredients

For the dough

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup potato starch
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsps limoncello (or anise liqueur or Strega liqueur)
1 pinch salt
as needed vegetable oil
1/2 cup wildflower honey
4 tbsps water
2 tbsps sugar
2 oz candied cherries
as needed colored sprinkles

Tools

What we need to make

1 Mixer electric
2 Bowls
1 Knife
1 Hand Whisk
1 Pot

Steps

Struffoli Traditional and Bimby Recipe

In a bowl, with the electric mixer, mix the sugar with the eggs until you get a nice foamy mixture.
Add, little by little, the sifted flour and potato starch. After a few minutes, add the pinch of salt, and continue mixing. Initially, use the pastry whisk, then, when the dough becomes more compact, continue stirring with a wooden spoon.
Once you have a thick dough, add the 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil and the limoncello, or another liqueur, and mix well by kneading with your hands until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for about 1 hour.
Put the all-purpose flour, potato starch, eggs, sugar, liqueur, and salt in the Bimby bowl, mix: 40 sec./speed 5. Transfer the dough to the work surface and compact it into a loaf. Let your dough rest in the fridge for about 1 hour.
For convenience, divide the dough into many small sausages,
and then into many small balls of about 1 cm. Place them on a floured surface and complete the process.
In the oven:
Place a sheet of parchment paper on the oven rack.
Place the balls on the rack with the parchment paper and bake the struffoli in the already hot oven at 284°F for about 30 minutes
Turn the struffoli occasionally, and when they are nice and golden, take them out of the oven and let them cool.
With these amounts, you’ll have 3 or 4 batches. The main advice is not to completely fill the basket because they will puff up during cooking, so you risk them sticking to each other. The air must circulate perfectly for even cooking, and you can mix them without squashing them during cooking.
So put vegetable oil in a nebulizer to spray it evenly. Spray a few puffs directly onto the basket only for the first batch.
Place the struffoli in the basket and spray them with a few puffs of oil. Cook them at 392°F for 6 minutes, opening the basket a couple of times, spraying a few more puffs and mixing or shaking the basket.
When they have reached the right golden color, they can be removed from the basket, and you can proceed to a second batch.
First of all, I recommend using a small pot, about 7 inches in diameter with high sides, with half of the indicated frying oil, so you can change the oil often to prevent it from darkening
Cook a few pieces at a time to avoid excessive foam, which you will remove with a slotted spoon as soon as it forms! Then dip them in hot oil, turn them a couple of times, and in 30-40 seconds they will be ready.
Struffoli are perfectly fried when they are golden, not dark or blackened.
In a saucepan, heat the honey with water and sugar over low heat.
When the mixture has melted, immerse the struffoli in the pot and mix them.
Make sure they are as coated as possible with honey and then place them on a serving platter.
Decorate your struffoli with candied fruits and sprinkles, if desired, and serve them on the table.
Put the honey, water, and sugar in the Bimby bowl, heat: 7 min./212°F/speed 2. with the basket on top of the lid
Place the struffoli on a serving platter, glaze with the liquid honey, and decorate with colored sprinkles.
Here are the ready Struffoli Traditional and Bimby Recipe