Sweet Carnival fritters are leavened desserts, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, that can be decorated in various ways to make them colorful and lively, because, as we know, the more colorful it is during Carnival, the better. To prepare these fritters, I used EVA dried sourdough from Molino Merano, and I let the dough rise overnight. In the morning, I divided the dough and shaped each piece like a little crostolo. After a short additional rising time, I fried them and then glazed and decorated them. I’ll just say… they disappeared fast!
If you like fritters, try these recipes of mine as well:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Rest time: 13 Hours
- Preparation time: 45 Minutes
- Portions: 14 fritters
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Carnival
Ingredients
- 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (Molino Merano)
- 1 1/2 oz EVA dried sourdough (Molino Merano)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 egg yolks
- 3 tbsps soft butter
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- as needed food coloring (optional)
- as needed sugar pearls (optional)
- 1 quart peanut oil (for frying)
Steps
To prepare the Sweet Carnival Fritters, place the flour along with the EVA sourdough, sugar, and warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer. Turn on the mixer and add the salt. Knead for a couple of minutes and add the yolks. When you have obtained a homogeneous dough, add the soft butter cut into cubes and continue kneading until the dough is elastic and detaches from the bottom and sides of the bowl, wrapping around the hook. This will take about 20 minutes in total. Form a ball, return it to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place (80°F) for 10-12 hours until doubled.
When the dough has doubled in volume, deflate it and roll it out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface until you obtain a rectangle of about 10 inches x 6 inches. Cut the rectangle in half lengthwise to obtain two strips of dough about 10 inches x 3 inches. Then cut each dough strip into 7 pieces crosswise, to obtain 7 rectangles about 1 1/2 inches x 3 inches. Make a slit in the center of each rectangle, again in the longitudinal direction, leaving about 1/2 inch intact at the edges. Take a rectangle of dough in your hand and pass one end through the slit twice to create a twisted effect. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Proceed in the same way for the remaining dough. Then cover the obtained fritters with plastic wrap and let rise for another hour or so in a warm place.
After the resting time, heat the oil in a large, high-sided pot suitable for frying. When the oil reaches a temperature of 320-330°F, immerse 3-4 fritters at a time (depending on the capacity of the pot), cover with a lid and fry for about 2 minutes over medium-low heat. Then turn the fritters and finish cooking for another 1-2 minutes, without the lid, until golden.
Remove the fritters from the oil with a slotted spoon and place them on kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil.
When you have fried all the fritters and they have cooled or at least warmed up, you can proceed to glaze them.
Mix the powdered sugar with the milk in a bowl. If you want fritters with colored glaze, put 1-2 tablespoons of glaze in another small bowl, or even 2 small bowls, depending on how many colors you want to make, and add some food coloring to these.
Then dip the fritters one by one into the white glaze (on one side only), let them drip for a few moments, and place them on a rack. Then add the colored glaze with a spoon, decorating to taste, and finish with any colored sugar pearls.
Let them dry and enjoy!
