Carnival chiacchiere with alchermes, crunchy and bubbly and even more delicious with alchermes in the dough. At Carnival and in the period leading up to it, the craving for chiacchiere becomes stronger than usual, so we get into the kitchen to prepare wagonloads of chiacchiere. It’s still January, but I’ve already made them twice. The first with Strega, and the second with alchermes for my niece’s happiness, who each time receives a couple of trays, all ready to munch on, and as she says, they are irresistible, one leads to another, so it’s important to make a lot, actually a lot, so much that in a week she almost forced me to make them twice. I gladly oblige her, to always have her available to consume what I cook, but soon she will return to college for the last exams before the thesis.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 8 people
- Cooking methods: Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Carnival
Ingredients for carnival chiacchiere with alchermes or frappe with alchermes
- 10.58 oz all-purpose flour
- 1.41 oz alchermes
- 1.06 oz butter
- 1.41 oz sugar
- 2 eggs
- as needed lemon or orange zest
- as needed vanilla
- as needed sunflower oil
- 3.53 oz alchermes
- 5 tablespoons sugar
- vanilla icing sugar
Tools for preparing carnival chiacchiere with alchermes
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Pasta machine
- 1 Pastry wheel
- 1 Frying pan
- 1 Small bowl
- 1 Tongs
- 5 Paper towels
Steps to prepare carnival chiacchiere with alchermes
Let’s prepare the dough immediately. In a bowl, put flour, eggs, sugar, melted butter (in a saucepan or microwave on medium power for a few seconds), vanilla, lemon or orange zest, and finally the liqueur. Knead to obtain a nice firm dough. Let it rest a bit under the bowl, meanwhile prepare what’s needed to shape our chiacchiere.
We prepare a clean work surface to place the sheets. Mount the pasta machine to roll the dough. After letting the dough rest for at least 10-20 minutes, divide it into about 6 pieces and roll each one with the pasta machine. Dust with flour, start with the rollers open, and thin out the dough, passing it several times at the beginning at the same level, folding the pasta, until you obtain a perfect sheet. Dust with flour if necessary and close the rollers one level at a time until you pass the sheet to the penultimate level, or to the last if you want it very thin.
As we roll out the sheets, we place them on a clean, dry surface, dust the sheet one last time before rolling it to the penultimate level, without using it on the surface afterward, so we use little flour and no foam forms during cooking.
Cut the chiacchiere according to our tastes. Shape them as you like and then prepare for cooking.
Fry the chiacchiere a few at a time in plenty of hot oil, turning them to lightly golden. Once ready, place them on a tray with paper towels to remove excess oil, continue until finished.
Then prepare the alchermes syrup, put sugar with liqueur in a high-edged bowl, let it boil in the microwave for a minute, checking that it doesn’t overflow, or you can prepare it in a saucepan on the stove. Once cooled, it will become a thick syrup.
Place the chiacchiere on a tray, without paper, one layer, sprinkle with some of the syrup, and continue layering, covering with icing sugar. Now our alchermes chiacchiere are ready to enjoy.
