The goodness of this typical Carnival preparation is known throughout Italy, although it goes by different names depending on the region.
For me, a Neapolitan, they are simply chiacchiere, even if here in Rome I have to remember to call them frappe.
Whatever you want to call them, they are too good, and making them at home is also fun.
The dough is made of eggs, flour, butter, and sugar, with the addition of aromas and an alcoholic part that will evaporate during cooking, still leaving the dough crisp.
Chiacchiere can also be baked, but the recipe I’m about to share involves frying as the cooking method.
After all, what would Carnival be without frying?
Now take a minute to read the recipe and then…let’s cook and eat!!
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 20 Minutes
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Winter, Carnival
Ingredients
- 3 1/4 cups Manitoba flour
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 eggs
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 1/2 tbsp rum (or another liqueur)
- 1 lemon zest (grated)
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 pinch fine salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 quart vegetable oil (for frying)
- as needed powdered sugar (for dusting)
Tools
- 1 Stand mixer
- 1 Pastry cutter
- Pasta machine
- 1 Plastic wrap
- 1 Pastry board
- 1 Frying pan
- 1 Slotted spoon
- 1 colafritto
Steps
To prepare the chiacchiere, I used the stand mixer, but if you don’t have one, you can easily work the dough by hand.
First, I added the two flours to the bowl and mixed them together by setting the stand mixer to the lowest speed.
Then I added the eggs, sugar, rum, salt, and aromas (lemon zest and vanilla extract). I let all the ingredients blend at medium speed, adding the softened butter in pieces last. Once the butter was absorbed, I transferred the dough to the pastry board, quickly kneaded it with my hands, then covered it with plastic wrap and let it rest for an hour at room temperature.
After the rest time, take the dough, cut it into small portions, and roll out thin sheets with a rolling pin or, even better, with a pasta machine set to the last thickness.
Once you have the sheets, cut them with a pastry cutter, creating many rectangles of dough in which you make a vertical cut in the center to get the characteristic shape of chiacchiere.
At this point, heat a deep frying pan with plenty of vegetable oil, bringing it to 350°F, and immerse the chiacchiere a few at a time.
It will take only a few seconds of cooking to create many bubbles on the surface and to brown both sides of the chiacchiere.
Once ready, lift them out with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a colafritto to drain the excess oil.
When they are completely dry, dust them with plenty of powdered sugar and serve.
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