Steps: Carnival fritters with lemon cream

• Place the milk with about half of the sugar in a thick-bottomed saucepan, stir, and bring to a boil.

  Meanwhile, combine the egg yolks, cornstarch, remaining sugar, filtered lemon juice, and grated zest in a bowl, then stir to combine.

  When the milk boils, pour it into the bowl with the eggs, stir quickly, and put everything back into the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring with a spatula until it thickens, then pour the cream into a cold bowl (preferably just taken out of the freezer) and stir to cool it quickly.

  At this point, cover the lemon cream with plastic wrap in contact with the surface and let it cool well in the refrigerator.

• In a pot, bring the water with the salt and butter to a boil. Once boiling, remove the pot from the heat and add the flour all at once. Stir and put the pot back on the heat on low, stirring with a spoon until the mixture detaches from the sides.

  Transfer the dough to the mixer bowl and add the grated lemon zest and sugar.

  Mix well and add one egg at a time, only adding the next egg when the previous one is fully incorporated, until you get a dense and homogeneous dough.

• Now take a deep pan and heat plenty of vegetable oil. When it’s hot, fry the fritters by gently dropping some dough into the oil with a spoon.

  Turn the fritters halfway through cooking to achieve an even browning, let them drain on absorbent paper, and cool before filling.

• When the cream is also cold, place it in a pastry bag with a long nozzle and fill the fritters with the lemon cream.

  Store them in the refrigerator.