The super soft ricotta castagnole are delicious fried sweets typical of Carnival, very simple to make. You just need a bowl, a spoon, and a scale to prepare the batter for these ultra-soft fritters.
Ricotta is the most important ingredient in this variant, giving the castagnole their unique softness, making them lighter than the traditional versions that generally contain more butter and eggs.
The recipe I am about to share comes from a simple desire to create light and soft castagnole that would melt in your mouth with every bite. As often happens, inspiration comes from traditional sweets. In Bologna, crispy castagnole are prepared, similar to fried shortcrust pastries, extremely crumbly and long-lasting, and topini, delightful soft fritters with a creamy marsala-flavored center. I wanted to create a sweet that was a middle ground, creating my variant.
With my recipe, you will get light castagnole that don’t retain excess oil. After cooking, simply pass them on absorbent paper and sprinkle with powdered sugar to add sweetness and make them absolutely irresistible.
My family loved them, try them and let me know what you think.
Also, try other Carnival recipes:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: for 450 g of castagnole
- Cooking methods: Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Carnival
- Energy 375.82 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 44.13 (g) of which sugars 20.25 (g)
- Proteins 7.81 (g)
- Fat 18.69 (g) of which saturated 6.42 (g)of which unsaturated 11.39 (g)
- Fibers 0.73 (g)
- Sodium 37.37 (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
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup ricotta
- 1 egg (medium)
- 2 3/4 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp rum (or other liqueur of choice)
- 1 1/2 tbsp butter (soft)
- 3 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon zest (or grated orange)
- 2 1/8 cups peanut oil
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar with vanilla
Tools
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Scale
- 1 Hand Whisk
- 1 Saucepan small
- 1 Slotted Spoon
- Absorbent Paper
Procedure
In a bowl, work the ricotta with the soft butter and sugar, incorporate the egg, add the vanilla, lemon zest, liqueur, and milk, mixing well with the hand whisk.
Add the sifted flour with the baking powder, mix the batter until smooth and homogeneous. Cover it and let it rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.
The batter is ready; you’ll get a fairly dense and smooth batter, perfect for scooping with a spoon.
Pour the oil into a small saucepan with a thick bottom and heat to 320/329°F. Take a small amount of batter with a teaspoon and, using another spoon, gently drop it into the hot oil.
In a short time, they will double in size and become round.Fry a few castagnole at a time, moving them often with the slotted spoon so they cook evenly.
When golden, drain them on a plate covered with absorbent paper to remove excess oil. Sprinkle generously with powdered sugar.
The super soft ricotta castagnole are ready.
Tips
The super soft ricotta castagnole can be stored for 2 days at room temperature.
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