The Cicerchiata
One of the traditional Carnival sweets, a colorful and festive doughnut made of pellets, dipped in honey and decorated with sugar sprinkles
For the dough:
- 300 g flour
- 2 eggs
- 40 g sugar
- 25 gr of butter
- 25 gr of mistrà (or other liqueur of your choice)
- Grated peel of 1/2 lemon
To decorate:
- 200 gm honey
- Colored sugar sprinkles
- Optionally you can add:
- Almonds
- Candied fruit
- Orange peel
In a bowl mix the flour, with the eggs and sugar, the grated rind of 1/2 lemon, melted butter and mistrà. The dough should be soft, so start by putting in only half the flour at first, then add the rest a little at a time. When the dough is ready, create long sticks and cut them as if to make dumplings, then roll the individual pieces of dough to create many small balls. Fry the balls a little at a time in plenty of hot oil until golden brown, then drain and let them cool on paper towels to remove excess oil. Meanwhile, heat the honey until it becomes just a little more colorful and liquid, then add the balls to the honey, stir vigorously to mix the mixture well, and finally add the colored sugar sprinkles. At this stage you can also add other decorative ingredients according to taste, such as slivered almonds, candied fruit or grated orange peel. To finish the dish, lightly butter a bundt cake mold and place the mixture inside to give it the typical ring shape. Let it cool again and finally remove the cake from the mold. The cicerchiata is ready!