Struffoli

Whether you call them struffoli or honey balls, they’re just plain deliciousness and fun to eat.  You have heard of struffoli, right?

Well, in case you haven’t had struffoli before, I’ll explain.  They’re something that Italian people love to have, especially around Christmas.  And, at least based on my own experiences, they seem to take forever to make (for me, about 4 hours).  They’re tiny fried dough balls in honey.  I blend together my eggs, shortening, lemon zest, salt, sugar, and baking powder, and form a well in my pile of flour on the baking mat.  I keep on forming the dough ball with my hands until there’s a nice, moist dough ball with just a hint of lemon aroma.

Separately, I heat some honey with orange zest in a small pot.  And at some point, I’ll heat some vegetable oil in a somewhat larger pot.  For the honey, I’ll be using a slotted spoon, and when frying the dough balls, I’ll use a spider spoon, one of my favorite kitchen tools.

Anyway, I form tiny dough balls the size of ceci (chick peas) and keep them on a cookie sheet underneath a damp paper towel.  I’ve never counted how many dough balls the recipe makes, but a reasonable guess would be somewhere between 400 and 500.  I fry them in groups of about 10, until they’re golden brown, and then remove them to the honey, make sure they’re coated, and form a conical sort of mound on a plate, and sprinkle with multicolored nonpareils.

And that’s struffoli!

Christmas Cookies - Italian Style

It’s that wonderful time of the year again, when I start making a ridiculous amount of cookies for Christmas.  Usually, I make cookies for my family and friends.  This year I did an extra batch - to give to the people I sell wine to all year.  I wanted to know with a small gesture as homemade cookies that I very much appreciate working with them all year.

I did opt for a few American traditional cookies (chocolate chip and peanut butter) but most of the cookies were Italian recipes.  The biscotti I had never made before - the other two are on the menu every time I make cookies.

Hazelnut and Chocolate Biscotti

So, about the biscotti - I love hazelnut.  Unfortunately, stores like Stop & Shop (for some very strange reason I suppose) rarely have in stock products that Italian-American families might need.  At least, that’s been my observation over the past few years, without going into too much detail.  Anyway, they didn’t have any hazelnuts that were all ready for baking.  So I cracked open quite a lot of hazelnut shells, but I guess it was worth it, because the biscotti turned out amazingly good!  (And they’re perfect for breakfast, for dipping in coffee.)  I changed the recipe slightly that I had found online - I added some chocolate to it.  Frangelico, vanilla, almond all went into the flavoring of the biscotti, plus a whole lot of flour, eggs, sugar, and other basic baking ingredients.  And while the dough is a little annoying and difficult to work with due to its very sticky nature, it’s a relatively easy recipe in the end, and once the cookies are baked in loaves, sliced, and baked again, that’s really all there is to it.

Cuccidati

Next up were the cuccidati.  Cuccidati are a distinctly Sicilian recipe, but they’re pretty similar to rugelach.  The dough is simple - flour, sugar, eggs, butter, baking powder, and salt.  Into the food processor until it becomes a nice ball of dough, and that’s it.  The food processor needs to be cleaned again though, because you’ll need it for the filling.  What’s in the filling?  Mission figs, raisins, rum, orange juice, black coffee, chocolate, candied lemon peel, black pepper, walnut, almond, apricot jam, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and a touch of ginger.  I think that’s all.  If it sounds like a lot, that’s because it is, but the depth and complexity of the aromas and flavors of the cookies are amazing.  So here’s what I do (because lots of people think they’re really hard to make, and that’s just not true) - I cover my entire work surface in flour, as well as my hands and forearms.  I used to use a rolling pin but the dough needs to be so thin that the rolling pin kept on ruining it.  So I flatten it completely with my hands and arms, and anyway I like the more natural feel of the dough that way anyway.  So once I make medium sized rectangles of dough about 12 inches long by about 4 inches tall, I spread the fig paste along it, and then roll it to make a long roll (carefully!), pinching it at the ends to seal it.  I then cut it into bite sized pieces, score the pieces, brush them with an egg wash, and sprinkle them with nonpareils.  Into the oven on parchment paper lined cookie sheets, and that’s it.

Rainbow Cookies

The most stressful recipe I ever make are the rainbow cookies.  I think it’s because I’ve been doing it for 10 years and yet I still lack my usual kitchen confidence when making them.  For me, they’re a lot more difficult than the cuccidati could ever be.  They’re almond flavored and the batter is on the dry side so it makes it a little difficult to spread into the bottoms of the 3 pans, especially since they have to be so thin (remember, they’re made in 3 cake layers), and in between the colored layers, we have raspberry jam and apricot jam.  And on top, it’s melted chocolate.  Everything about them seems to be a challenge for me - getting the right consistency, getting them to spread evenly and correctly, baking them just the right amount of time, getting them out of the pans without cracking the very thin and delicate layers, and getting them cut and separated safely.  But they’re completely worth it.

The baking isn’t over yet.  I’m making these 3 recipes again, and I’m making something else fun that I do at Christmas, called struffoli - the Italian honey balls.  And the cooking?  It’ll be the Feast of the Seven Fishes for Christmas Eve, and lasagne for Christmas Day.  Fun!