Fried Cauciunitti are a typical dessert from Abruzzo, mostly found during the Christmas season. However, at Christmas, they are also made in other versions, where the filling changes, and in some areas of Abruzzo, they are made even smaller than we are used to making them in my region.
This is the recipe that is mainly made in my town during the festival period, and let’s say that at some parties, we don’t miss the chance to make them.
Personally, even though there are many versions with different fillings, this is my favorite.
It’s a quite rich dessert, but once a year, you just can’t do without making them; they’re too good, they conquer you at the first bite!
It’s a shame they’re so caloric, but I personally prefer to diet for a few days and then eat some.
Try making my fried Cauciunitti by following the recipe, and I’m sure they’ll win you over too!
About 90 Kcal for each cauciunitto
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Expensive
- Portions: 55-58 pieces
- Cooking methods: Frying
- Cuisine: Regional Italian
- Region: Abruzzo
- Seasonality: Christmas, All seasons
Ingredients for making fried Cauciunitti
- 1 cup White wine
- 1 medium egg
- 3 tablespoons Sugar
- 1/8 cup Sunflower seed oil (about 4 tablespoons)
- 1 pinch Salt
- 18.3 oz All-purpose flour
- Sunflower seed oil
- 19.4 oz Boiled and ground chickpeas, weighed raw
- 7.1 oz Unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups Rum or creole spirit
- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- to taste Ground cinnamon
- 1 Deep Fryer deep fryer
- 1 Pan frying pan
Preparation of fried Cauciunitti
First prepare the filling by soaking the chickpeas the night before for about 12 hours, then boil them in water without adding anything.
Once cooked, drain them, let them cool, and place them in a food processor to blend everything, also adding the cocoa, lemon, cinnamon, sugar, and rum.
If the mixture is too dry, add more rum; if the cocoa doesn’t seem to have colored enough (it should be nicely brown), add more.
Once the mixture is made, put it in the fridge while preparing the dough, and if it’s not blended well, blend it with an immersion blender and it’ll surely be perfect.
Blend until everything is homogeneous, especially the chickpeas.
Prepare the dough by gradually combining all the ingredients and working everything with a hand mixer, then place the dough on a work surface and knead it for 2-3 minutes, finally forming a ball.
The good thing about this dough is that it can be worked with a pasta machine.
Take the pasta machine and make sheets, working it at the second-last setting of the machine, but this can vary from machine to machine, so you have to adjust; it shouldn’t be transparent but quite thin.
Once the sheets are ready, form circles, for example, using a glass, and place a generous teaspoon of the mixture in the center, closing it into a half-moon and sealing the edges well.
Alternatively, make all little piles of mixture on the sheet and fold it over itself, then cut out each cauciunitto into a half-moon shape.
Heat plenty of seed oil, and when it’s hot enough, start frying the cauciunitti on both sides and drain them on absorbent paper.
These desserts can be served either hot or cold and will keep for a few days if stored well.
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