The fried and bubbly carnival chatters are the result of a simple and traditional recipe that allows you to obtain chatters with a great taste and a surface dotted with a myriad of large and small bubbles.
These sweets are typical of Carnival and are widespread throughout Italy although, from region to region, the name varies: frappe, bugie, crostoli, etc.
It is a sheet of fried and crunchy dough, not oily at all, served with a generous dusting of powdered sugar and, in my area, also with cinnamon.
Despite its simplicity, this recipe requires precise precautions for perfect success.
Therefore, the temperature of the frying oil will be fundamental and the use of a pasta machine will definitely be helpful. It will allow you to obtain uniformly thin strips of dough and thanks to the work it requires, the bubbles will rise.
With a pinch of good will and following the advice in the recipe, you will see that your chatters will have nothing to envy to those purchased ready-made in the pastry shop.
If you like my recipes you can follow me on my FACEBOOK page and on INSTAGRAM
Thank you ❤️😘❤️
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 1,288.35 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 29.88 (g) of which sugars 6.92 (g)
- Proteins 5.44 (g)
- Fat 129.66 (g) of which saturated 22.95 (g)of which unsaturated 100.23 (g)
- Fibers 0.80 (g)
- Sodium 70.28 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 45 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
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for rolling out dough)
- 3 tbsps sugar
- 2 tbsps lard (or butter)
- 2 eggs (medium)
- 1 tbsp grappa
- 1 tbsp Marsala
- lemon zest (grated from one lemon)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder (for sweets)
- to taste salt
- to taste powdered sugar
- to taste ground cinnamon
- 4 cups peanut oil (or sunflower)
Tools
- pasta machine
- 1 Pan 8 inches for frying
- 1 Thermometer kitchen
- 1 Fluted wheel pastry cutter
Steps
To prepare the fried and bubbly carnival chatters, start by combining in a bowl the flour, sugar, grated lemon zest, baking powder, eggs, liquors, lard (or melted and cooled butter), a pinch of salt and knead.
Once you have a smooth dough, let it rest for about half an hour covered with plastic wrap at room temperature.
Then take the dough, take about a quarter of it and flatten it with your hands.
Then, flour it on both sides, pass it through the rollers of the pasta machine at the largest thickness.
At first, the sheet will tend to come out of the rollers torn in some points, in this case fold it in half, flour and pass again at the same thickness until it comes out well formed.
Gradually reduce the thickness and stop when the rollers give a sheet about 1/16 inch thick. In my pasta machine, this occurs at setting 4.
Cut the obtained sheet into strips with the fluted wheel and make one or two cuts in the center of each strip.
If you want, pass one of the ends through the central cut to have more festive shapes.
Make all the chatters before starting the frying phase and place them on a floured surface.
Place a pan with plenty of vegetable oil on the fire.
I usually use a 9.5-inch diameter pot with about 2 cups of vegetable oil, which I change after frying half of the chatters.
It is very important that the oil is at a temperature of 347°F for the bubbles to rise and for a light fry, it also needs to stay as constant as possible.
For this purpose, it is important to have a kitchen thermometer, fry no more than 3 chatters at a time and lower the flame after reaching the indicated temperature.
If you do not have a kitchen thermometer, before starting to fry, dip the handle of a wooden spoon in the oil, if it is abundantly surrounded by bubbles it means that the oil has reached the temperature.
When it is still too low, the chatters tend to absorb a lot of oil and not many bubbles rise.
If, on the contrary, the chatters darken as soon as immersed, the temperature is too high and you should briefly remove the pot from the fire.
Fry the chatters for a very short time on both sides, removing them as soon as they are golden.
Then transfer them to absorbent paper and let them cool.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and, if desired, also with cinnamon.
The fried and bubbly carnival chatters are ready.
In an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
In an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Here is a selection of products very useful in making sweets. Many of these were purchased and tested by me. To view the recommended products click here.
Here is a selection of products very useful in making sweets. Many of these were purchased and tested by me. To view the recommended products click here.
