Super soft castagnole are delicious fried treats typical of Carnival and very simple to make; all you need is a bowl, a spoon, and a scale to prepare the mixture that will give you very soft fritters.
The ricotta is the most important ingredient in this version, giving the castagnole a unique softness, making them lighter than traditional versions that generally contain more butter and eggs.
The recipe I propose is very simple but at the same time will give you an excellent result, my castagnole are light and soft, capable of melting in your mouth with every bite and do not retain excess oil (if cooked properly).
As often happens, inspiration comes from traditional sweets, in Bologna, crispy castagnole are made, similar to fried pastry, they are extremely crumbly and keep unchanged for a long time, and topini, delicious soft fritters with a creamy heart flavored with marsala; so I wanted to create a sweet that was a middle ground, creating my variant.
After cooking, just pass them in absorbent paper and sprinkle them with powdered sugar which will add sweetness and make them absolutely irresistible.
My family loved them very much, try them and let me know what you think.
Try also other Carnival recipes:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 15 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: for 1 lb of castagnole
- Cooking methods: Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Carnival
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cow's milk ricotta
- 1 egg (medium)
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp rum (or another liquor with the same alcohol content)
- 1 1/2 tbsp butter (softened)
- 3 tbsp whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon zest (grated or another citrus of your choice)
- 2 cups peanut oil
- 1/3 cup vanilla powdered sugar
Tools
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Hand whisk
- 1 Scale
- 1 Saucepan small
- 1 Slotted spoon
- Absorbent paper
Procedure
In a bowl, work the ricotta with softened butter and sugar, incorporate the egg, add the vanilla, lemon zest, liquor, and milk, mixing well with the hand whisk.
Add the sifted flour with the baking powder, mix the mixture until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough. Cover it and let it rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.
The dough is ready, you will get a fairly dense and smooth batter, perfect to scoop with a spoon.
Pour the oil into a small saucepan with a thick bottom and heat it to 320-330°F. Take a small amount of dough with a teaspoon and with the help of another spoon, let it drop gently into the hot oil.
They will double in size and become round in no time.
Fry a few castagnole at a time, moving them often with a slotted spoon so that they cook evenly.When golden, drain them on a plate covered with absorbent paper to lose excess oil. Sprinkle them with plenty of powdered sugar.
The super soft castagnole are ready.
Advice
Storage
The super soft ricotta castagnole can be kept for 2 days at room temperature.
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