Struffoli the original Neapolitan recipe.
Crispy, fragrant, and delicious.
The Struffoli, the original Neapolitan recipe, are delightful sweets typical of the Christmas period and in many areas also of the carnival, small crispy and fragrant balls glazed with lots of honey, caramelized orange peels, and decorated with colorful sprinkles and candied cherries.
Struffoli along with Mostaccioli, Roccocò, and pastiera di grano are the sweets that during holidays cannot be missing from any Neapolitan table, but also from that of many Italian families because these delightful sweets are always appreciated everywhere.
On my blog, you can find many recipes for struffoli, the ones from Aunt, the caramel ones, the ones from Grandma, the chocolate ones, and many others. Today’s recipe is an ancient one given to me by a friend from downtown Naples, it’s her grandmother’s recipe. I love struffoli, and I must say these have won me over 🙂
Now everyone to the kitchen, today we prepare the Struffoli, the original Neapolitan recipe 🙂
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 6 people
- Cooking methods: Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas, Carnival
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 medium eggs (at room temperature)
- 3 tbsps sugar
- grated peel of 1 untreated lemon
- 3.5 tbsps lard (or melted and cooled butter)
- 2 tsp limoncello (or rum, or brandy, or strega liqueur)
- 1 pinch salt
- as needed peanut oil (for frying)
- 1 cup honey
- 1/2 cup sugar
- peel of 1 mandarin
- as needed colorful sprinkles (in Naples called diavulilli)
- as needed candied cherries
- 2 tbsps orange juice
Tools
- 1 Hand Whisk
- 1 Bowl
- 1 High-sided saucepan
- 1 Pastry Board
- 1 Skimmer
Steps
Place the eggs in a large bowl and beat them lightly with a hand whisk, add the lard (or the melted cooled butter, if you use lard it doesn’t need to be melted) and mix, add the sugar, a pinch of salt, the grated lemon peel, and the liqueur, mix.
Add the sifted flour little by little while continuing to mix with a spatula, as soon as the dough begins to be compact, knead with your hands until you form a homogeneous, smooth dough that doesn’t stick to your hands. If more flour is needed, add it.
Once the dough is smooth and non-sticky, it’s ready.
Cut small pieces from the dough and on a lightly floured pastry board, roll them into very thin ropes with your hands, then cut them into small pieces, trying to make all the struffoli the same size, and gradually place them spaced apart on a lightly floured towel.
Heat plenty of oil in a high-sided stainless steel saucepan (this helps maintain a constant oil temperature).
Once the oil reaches 350°F (dip a small piece of dough and it should form many bubbles around it immediately) fry the struffoli a few at a time, stirring continuously until golden brown (they cook in a flash), once golden, remove them from the oil and place them on a bowl lined with frying paper to drain.
Fry all the struffoli in the same way.
Once all the struffoli are fried, we can prepare the honey glaze.
Cut the mandarin peel into strips.
Place the sugar in a high-sided pan with the orange juice, as soon as the sugar begins to melt and turn golden, add the honey and the mandarin peel strips, melt everything over low heat, continuously stirring with a steel spoon.Once the honey is melted, turn off the heat and let rest for 2 minutes.
Place the struffoli in a large bowl and pour the honey glaze over them, mixing well with a spoon to coat all the struffoli.
While still very warm, place the struffoli on a tray and decorate with colorful sprinkles and cherries.
Allow to cool and soak up the flavors.If you run out of honey, you can use my fake honey to glaze them. You can find the recipe by CLICKING HERE.
Place the eggs with the sugar and the liqueur in the bowl 20 sec. / speed 3.
Add a pinch of salt, lemon peel, and lard (or melted butter) 20 sec. / speed 2.Add the flour and knead 4 min. / knead speed.
Turn off the Thermomix and check the dough’s consistency. If it doesn’t stick to your hands, it’s fine. If it does, add a bit more flour and knead a little with your hands on a pastry board.
Once the dough is smooth and non-sticky, it’s ready.
Cut small pieces from the dough and on a lightly floured pastry board, roll them into very thin ropes with your hands, then cut them into small pieces, trying to make all the struffoli the same size, and gradually place them spaced apart on a lightly floured towel.
Heat plenty of oil in a high-sided stainless steel saucepan (this helps maintain a constant oil temperature).
Once the oil reaches 350°F (dip a small piece of dough and it should form many bubbles around it immediately) fry the struffoli a few at a time, stirring continuously until golden brown (they cook in a flash), once golden remove them from the oil and place them on a bowl lined with frying paper to drain.
Fry all the struffoli in the same way.Once all the struffoli are fried, we can prepare the honey glaze.
Cut the mandarin peel into strips.
Place the sugar in a high-sided pan with the orange juice, as soon as the sugar begins to melt and turn golden, add the honey and the mandarin peel strips, melt everything over low heat, continuously stirring with a steel spoon.
Once the honey is melted, turn off the heat and let rest for 2 minutes.
Place the struffoli in a large bowl and pour the honey glaze over them, mixing well with a spoon to coat all the struffoli.
While still very warm, place the struffoli on a tray and decorate with colorful sprinkles and cherries.
Allow to cool and soak up the flavors.If you run out of honey, you can use my fake honey to glaze them. You can find the recipe by CLICKING HERE.
The struffoli with the ancient Neapolitan recipe are ready to be enjoyed… Sweet treat!
Try all the other struffoli recipes, there are options for all tastes, find the recipes by CLICKING HERE.
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