FRITTELLE

After Christmas, in Italy we have Carnival (mid February) but from January you can find every kind of Carnival cakes in the shops. Today I decided to make Frittelle ,a kind of fried pastry typical from Venice - but they are popular in all Italian regions and each one of them has its variations. You can add raisins or grappa to the batter, or you can fill them with custard, nutella, zabaione etc. This is my personal variation: I added some candied fruits to the mixture and I have to say that they taste really good. Very simple  and quick to make and kids just LOVE them.


Ingredients for 4 people:

120 g plain flour
80 g self-raising flour
2 eggs  
50 g butter
60 g sugar
70 ml milk
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 handful candied fruits
1 pinch of salt

Mix all the ingredients together: first the eggs with the sugar, then butter, milk, vanilla extract, then flour, lemon zest, salt, then candied fruits.

Prepare a frying pan with abundant oil, filling the pan for 3/4, then when the oil is very hot, use a tablespoon to gather a small amount of dough and quickly throw it in the pan in fast sequence, being careful not to crowd.

Fry until they are golden brown, turning once. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Serve hot on a paper towel sprinkled with sugar.