Grandma, I’m making Marchigian Choking Donuts! Well done, my star, make them so I can taste them, add the Varnelli and the sugar!
This was the conversation with my grandma, even if her reply is in the Marchigian dialect, I believe it’s understandable even to those not from the Marche region. The Varnelli is essential, otherwise what kind of Choking Donut would I be making? And then the sugar, be careful, it’s not the sugar in the dough that goes in, but not too much; it’s the royal icing that of course my grandma calls sugar because it’s made of powdered sugar.
I toyed with the idea of making this typical Easter dish from the Marche last year, but then I shelved the recipe in a drawer to make the Colomba Pan Brioche with Nutella and the Torta Pasqualina. Two recipes that went really well and were much liked last year. This year, however, I didn’t want to miss the train and wanted to get on board in time with the Traditional Easter Recipes, so today, February 6th, I’m presenting the Homemade Marchigian Choking Donut Recipe.
I paid more attention to the advice of the vergare I know, from Grandma Sandra to colleague Paola, to the ladies I meet at the bakery and those at the market. In short, from the Marchigian women who each year for Easter tie on their aprons and dedicate themselves to cooking. Proud of the Marchigian tradition, they bring every delight to the table each year, from the Cheese Crescia to be served with cold cuts to the Easter Choking Donuts. Of course, there are a thousand and one versions and variations of this recipe; we can say that every family has the secret to make them better than the neighbor’s.
As good vergarette, they don’t reveal their tricks, but we can pick up here and there some fundamental steps of the Easter recipe we are about to prepare. I have tried to summarize in the video recipe of the Marchigian Choking Donuts, which you find below the first photo, all the secrets to best prepare this dish. I hope the video helps you step by step.
Below you will find the list of ingredients to prepare 5 medium-small Marchigian Choking Donuts and the list of ingredients for the royal icing with which we will decorate each Marchigian Easter donut. Don’t be frightened by the 20 hours of rest; this recipe takes about twenty minutes of work, then there are two cookings, and then the final decoration. If the result is good, once in your life, you should try homemade Choking Donuts.
You will also find a list of Easter Recipes that I have prepared over the years; every blue link is clickable and will take you directly to the recipe you want to read. I also remind you that every morning on the Facebook fan page of Le Ricette di Bea, I await you with the Recipe of the Day!
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 20 Hours
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 5 Marchigian choking donuts
- Cooking methods: Oven, Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Easter
- Energy 396.02 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 55.90 (g) of which sugars 29.14 (g)
- Proteins 12.22 (g)
- Fat 12.34 (g) of which saturated 2.84 (g)of which unsaturated 8.77 (g)
- Fibers 0.90 (g)
- Sodium 237.60 (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
Ingredients for 5 Marchigian Choking Donuts
- 2 eggs (room temperature)
- 7.05 oz Manitoba flour (with strength W330 + two tablespoons of all-purpose flour for kneading)
- 2 tablespoons sugar (about 15 grams)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons anise liqueur (in my case Varnelli, Meletti is also fine)
- 1 pinch salt
- 0.04 oz dry yeast (or leavening agent)
- 1 egg white (room temperature)
- 2.47 oz powdered sugar (a larger amount may be needed)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 pinch salt
- q.b. sugar (sugar sprinkles)
Obviously, the list of ingredients for making the royal icing will only be needed if you wish to decorate the Easter Choking Donuts as I did. Otherwise, as my father says, who enjoys them with cold cuts and cheeses, you won’t need the icing; the decorative sugar is only added in the sweet version of this Easter recipe.
Recipe Tools for Marchigian Choking Donuts
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Electric whisk
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Sieve
- 1 Pot
- 1 Slotted spoon
- 1 Scale
- 2 Spoons
- 1 Oven
- 1 Stove
- 1 Cooling rack
- 1 Small bowl
- 1 Work surface
- 1 Dish towel
- 1 Dough scraper
- 1 Knife
Homemade Marchigian Choking Donuts Recipe Steps
Let’s start the recipe by weighing all the ingredients and placing them in front of us on the work surface. Also, fill a pot with plenty of water and put it on the stove; I will write when to turn on the flame. Let’s now dedicate ourselves to the dough of the Choking Donut. Break the two room-temperature eggs into the bowl with high edges. Add a pinch of salt and start beating the eggs with the electric whisk. It’s not an exaggeration, but you will have to work them well, for at least 10 minutes. The advice of the vergare is important, and this one of working the eggs thoroughly is a piece of advice that all the women I consulted for this recipe have emphasized.
After completing this step, we can add the sugar dose. I worked the eggs for 5 minutes, then added the sugar, continuing the work for the remaining 5 minutes. Then add the vegetable oil and continue with the whisks. Now take the flour and sift it; you can do this directly in the bowl using a sieve. Work a little with the whisk and then take a spatula. Pour in the two tablespoons of Varnelli and the gram of leavening agent (if you have bought it) or a gram of dry yeast.
Here, there are two lines of Marchigian thought: the one that adds a gram of yeast and the one that says “no yeast.” I followed the pro-yeast vergare, a gram never hurt anyone, and I think it helps for the good success of this recipe.
After quickly working the dough with the spatula, it’s time to move onto the wooden work surface. Sprinkle the surface with some all-purpose flour and proceed. Pour the dough onto the work surface and work it with your hands quickly until you create a nice smooth and homogeneous ball. Do you smell the anise in the air? Think about when we will bake our Marchigian choking donuts. We have arrived at the time of the first cooking, so turn on the flame to max and place the pot with water on the fire. Bring it to a boil. In the meantime, proceed as follows.
Take a dough scraper and score the dough to form at least 5 balls. They must be roughly the same size. Give a spherical shape to each dough ball. We can now create the hole in our Marchigian donuts. In the video, I show you how to do it with the help of a spoon, easy and practical. After creating the donuts, we can proceed with the first cooking. We will need to cook each donut for 5 minutes per side, then another two minutes per side. A total of 12 minutes of cooking for choking donut.
As we boil the Easter donuts, we will place them on the work surface, cleaned of excess flour, and then cover them with a clean dish towel. We will let them rest at room temperature for at least 20 hours. If you can exceed this time, even better. Some ladies advised me to exceed 24 or 25 hours of rest.
After this long period of time, we will be almost ready for the second cooking. Indeed, we can turn on the oven in fan mode at 356°F, maximum 392°F. In the meantime, take a knife without a serrated edge and with a sharp point. Score the outside of the donuts, as if to open them in two. This step in the video recipe of the Marchigian Choking Donuts which you find on the YouTube Channel or under the first picture, is very well seen. Then place the donuts on the oven rack and bake. For the first 10 minutes with the fan mode as indicated, then we will lower the degrees to 320°F and set the static mode.
You will see that in the first 10 minutes, the donuts will start to swell and then open, taking on the classic and beautiful shape of the Marchigian Easter donuts. Once baking is finished, we will take the mini donuts out and place them on a cooling rack. This will allow the moisture inside them to evaporate without encountering resistance or feeling more heat from the oven rack.
While the donuts cool, prepare the royal icing. Then take a small bowl and pour an egg white at room temperature into it. Add a pinch of salt and beat with the electric whisks until the egg white becomes a dense and hard snow. Sprinkle with a teaspoon of lemon juice and gradually add the powdered sugar. Start with a dose of about 70 grams. Gradually, you will understand the density of the icing. Not too liquid and not too dense.
Then use the icing to decorate the surface and sides of the Easter Donuts with Varnelli and sprinkle with colored sugar sprinkles. Allow to solidify for at least two hours. After this period of time, your Marchigian Donuts are finally ready to be enjoyed. I hope you are as satisfied with your result as I am; I’ve never been so happy to have made a typical dish from my region. I remind you that I await you every day here in my kitchen with many easy, quick, and economical recipes. Sometimes even with more complicated recipes like this one, but always with a smile and the desire to share with you my passion for cooking!!! Bon appétit!!!
Choking Donuts have a good and delicious reputation also in Abruzzo and Umbria, then similar in preparation to Apulian taralli. In short, Italy is beautiful, full of recipes and flavors to pass on to new generations to hand down Italian cuisine.
Storage
You can store the Easter Choking Donuts in a cake holder if you have decorated them with royal icing; otherwise, keep them well closed in a bag, whether it’s a food-grade plastic bag or in a paper bread bag.
