The mini colorful castagnole are soft and very light fried sweets perfect for Carnival. To make them, I used my recipe for panna castagnole, prepared the dough, divided it into 4 bowls to which I added food coloring, and fried them in hot oil. If you prefer to use a lighter dough, I recommend trying the spoonable soft castagnole, they’re super soft and quick.
This year I prepared many Carnival recipes but something was still missing, I was missing a bit of color and I thought of adding it to the doughs; today I propose the castagnole, in the coming days I will also publish the colorful chiacchiere.
To achieve such a vivid color, you need to use highly pigmented food colorings and fry the mini castagnole at 320°F, a temperature that will allow you to cook them perfectly inside without making them dark outside. If you don’t like gel food colorings, you can use natural powder colorings, they are fantastic but more expensive.
Preparing perfect castagnole is not difficult, you need to mix the ingredients well in a bowl and cook the dough at the right temperature, it is important that the oil is not too hot otherwise they will cook quickly on the outside and remain raw inside, I recommend using a thermometer to check the oil temperature, it costs very little and is really easy to use.
Try also the other Carnival recipes:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Rest time: 15 Minutes
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: for 500 g of colorful castagnole
- Cooking methods: Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Carnival
- Energy 507.29 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 71.74 (g) of which sugars 36.24 (g)
- Proteins 8.47 (g)
- Fat 21.27 (g) of which saturated 2.48 (g)of which unsaturated 8.78 (g)
- Fibers 1.12 (g)
- Sodium 29.36 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 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
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 eggs (medium)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 4 teaspoons rum (or other liqueur of choice)
- 1 teaspoon orange zest (grated)
- as needed food coloring (Wilton gel, can be replaced with natural colorings)
- 2 cups peanut oil
- 1/2 cup fine granulated sugar
Tools
- 1 Bowl large
- 4 Small bowls
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 Slotted spoon
- Paper towels
- 1 Thermometer
Procedure
In a bowl, mix the eggs well with the sugar, add the rum, cream, orange zest, and vanilla.
Sift the flour with the baking powder, add them to the other ingredients little by little, stirring with a whisk to avoid lumps.
You will get a fairly thick and smooth batter, perfect to scoop with a spoon.
Divide the dough into 4 bowls and add to each half a teaspoon of gel food coloring (choose your favorite colors).
Pour the oil into a saucepan with a thick bottom and heat it to 320°F. Take a small amount of dough (for such small ones, just half a teaspoon) and, using another teaspoon, place it in the hot oil.
They will double in size quickly, pay attention to the cooking, being very small it will be very brief.
Fry a few castagnole at a time, moving them often with the slotted spoon so that the cooking is even.
When they are cooked, drain them, lay them on a plate covered with paper towels to lose excess oil, let them cool slightly, and roll them in fine granulated sugar.
Mini colorful castagnole are ready to serve.
Advice
The mini colorful castagnole can be kept for 2 days at room temperature, well covered.
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