SWEET RICE FRITTERS
They are just what you need to kick off one of the sweetest times of the year, Carnival.
Sweet rice fritters are small rice balls, easy to make starting from rice cooked in milk, which release a delicate lemon aroma that makes them irresistible.
Enjoy them hot, dusted with powdered sugar — you’ll have to hide them or they’ll disappear in the blink of an eye!
The recipe for rice fritters is very simple and requires just a few ingredients you often already have at home: rice, milk, flour, sugar and eggs.
I wanted to make today’s recipe even more indulgent by filling them with a soft pastry cream, which I love, but if you don’t like it or want to speed up preparation you can easily skip it.
They are usually prepared for Carnival or Father’s Day but they are so good that after you try them they’ll earn a permanent spot in your recipe book and you’ll find any excuse to serve them at any time of year.
Ready to cook? Let’s start right away and go through the steps to prepare these delicious sweet rice fritters.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Budget-friendly
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Carnival
- Energy 300.78 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 34.75 (g) of which sugars 18.34 (g)
- Proteins 5.51 (g)
- Fat 16.29 (g) of which saturated 3.73 (g)of which unsaturated 11.72 (g)
- Fibers 0.52 (g)
- Sodium 42.89 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CARNIVAL SWEET RICE FRITTERS
- milk (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp (200 ml))
- rice (3 oz (about 3/8 cup))
- water (3.4 fl oz (about 1/3 cup))
- sugar (6 1/2 tbsp (about 80 g))
- egg (1 whole)
- baking powder (1 teaspoon)
- all-purpose flour (2/3 cup)
- lemon zest (zest of 1 unwaxed lemon)
- pastry cream (1 cup)
- peanut oil (for frying, as needed)
- granulated sugar (for finishing, as needed)
Tools
- 1 Small Saucepan Small frying saucepan
HOW TO PREPARE SWEET RICE FRITTERS
Sweet rice fritters are delicious even plain without filling, but they are even better with pastry cream. I’ll leave the choice to you.
I recommend making pastry cream at home; you can find the procedure and ingredients at the link by clicking HERE. Make it first and let it cool. Alternatively, you can buy ready-made pastry cream at the supermarket’s refrigerated section.
Place the milk and water in a large saucepan together with the rice and the lemon peel. Cook for about 15 minutes, until all the liquid has been absorbed. Once cooked, remove the lemon peel, transfer the rice to a bowl and let it cool slightly.
Beat the eggs with the sugar in a bowl. While the rice cools, add the egg and sugar to the rice and gradually stir in the flour previously sifted with the baking powder. Mix well to combine everything. Form many small balls and place them on a plate.
In a narrow, high-sided pan heat plenty of sunflower oil. When it reaches the right temperature (if you drop a small piece of batter it should sizzle), start frying the balls a few at a time. Turn them often to ensure even cooking; once colored, place them on a plate lined with paper towels and finally roll each ball in granulated sugar. The rice fritters are ready to be devoured!
If, like me, you are an irreducible sweet tooth, you can fill the rice fritters. In this case, take the pastry cream, put it into a piping bag fitted with a plain (not too large) tip and fill the fritters.
STORAGE
Sweet rice fritters can be kept for up to two days in the refrigerator. They can be frozen raw (before frying); in that case I recommend frying them without thawing.
NOTES
LEMON ZEST Instead of lemon zest you can use orange zest.
LACTOSE-FREE SWEET RICE FRITTERS If someone is lactose intolerant you can use rice milk and, obviously, do not fill them with pastry cream unless you prepare a lactose-free one.
FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM
