Calabrian turdilli with honey, my favorites, the recipe is the one with eggs and milk, the usual ones that mom and grandma prepared for us as children, but you can also make them with the eggless recipe, turdilli with wine, or the vermouth turdilli with eggs and without milk. Turdilli are close cousins of struffoli, even though the wine version is very different, but these with eggs are very similar, they differ in size, and in the fact that there’s no yeast in struffoli, I add it to make them soft, a softness that gradually turns into crumbliness, allowing these fried pastry sweets to keep for a long time, protected by a rich layer of honey that envelops them. Traditionally, they’re passed in fig honey, but for those who can’t find it, bee honey, chestnut, eucalyptus, or even wildflower honey like me, who love the more delicate taste of bee honey, is used more and more. So let’s see how to prepare them, the Calabrian turdilli, typical Christmas sweets, present in every home, there’s no family that doesn’t prepare them, or if they don’t, there’s always some relative or friend who brings a nice tray as a gift. Other typical Calabrian Christmas sweets.
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 3 small trays
- Cooking methods: Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for Calabrian Turdilli with Honey
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 eggs
- 8 tbsps sugar
- 4 tbsps sunflower oil
- 4 tbsps milk
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- organic orange zest
- oil for frying
- 2 cups wildflower honey
- candied fruit or colored sprinkles
Tools for Preparing Turdilli
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Spoon
- 1 Kneading board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Gnocchi board
- 1 Grater
Steps for Calabrian Turdilli with Honey
1. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the dough: flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder, milk, oil, and orange zest.
2. Mix with a spoon at first, then by hand until you get a smooth but non-sticky dough. If needed, use a bit of flour.
3. On a floured surface, work with a small portion of dough at a time. Roll into a rope, about the thickness of a finger, and cut into pieces 1-1.5 inches long.
4. Use a gnocchi board or the tines of a fork to stripe the turdilli.
5. Fry a few at a time in hot, abundant oil in a pan. Let them brown and turn, when they’re well browned, drain them and dry on paper.
6. After the second batch, change the oil; otherwise, it makes too much foam.
7. When done frying, pass them through honey. Place the honey in a clean pan, heat it, and pass the Calabrian turdilli through it a few at a time.
8. Once done passing them through honey, decorate with colored sprinkles or candied fruit like I did. Store well-sealed; they keep for a long time at room temperature, even over 10 days.
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