Struffoli
Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 orange, zested & juiced
3 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons salted butter
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Canola oil for frying
¾ cup honey
2 tablespoons orange juice
Cooking spray
Non-pareil sprinkles
Steps
In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, 3 tablespoons of sugar, ¼ teaspoon of baking powder, and the zest of 1 orange
Add 4 tablespoons of slightly softened butter cut into small cubes
Use a pastry cutter or 2 forks to cut the butter in with the flour mixture until coarse crumbs form
Make a hallow well in the center of the butter and flour mixture and add 3 eggs and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Whisk the eggs and vanilla extract together with a fork gradually pulling in more of the flour mixture until a soft dough forms
Once a soft dough forms, knead a few turns with your hands while keeping the dough in the bowl
Cover the ball of dough with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 minutes
Spread some flour out on a clean and flat work surface and turn out the dough onto the flour
Cut and divide the dough into 6 equal sections
Roll each section of dough out into a thin long rope about a quarter to a half inch thick
Then cup the rope into small quarter to half inch size pieces
Use the palms of your hands to gently roll each small cut piece of dough into a round ball
Place the small balls of dough on a separate tray lightly covered with more flour
Continue shaping the remaining sections of dough into the long thin ropes, cutting them into small pieces, rolling them into round balls, and placing them on the flour covered tray
In a heavy bottomed saucepan, add about 2 inches of canola oil for frying
Turn the heat on medium to medium-high and heat the oil until it reaches 350 degrees to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
Working in batches, add a spoonful of the small rolled dough balls to the hot oil and fry for 2 minutes or until the dough balls float to the top of the oil and are lightly golden in color
Then remove the cooked dough balls with a slotted spoon allowing the excess oil to drain back into a pot and place the dough balls on a paper towel lined plate
Continue frying all the remaining dough balls a batch at a time, removing from the oil when lightly golden in color and transferring to a paper towel lined plate
In a separate saucepan, that will be large enough to hold all the struffoli, add ¾ cup of honey and 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed orange juice
Heat the honey and orange juice over medium-low heat, stirring to combine until the honey has become more liquified
Then add all the fried dough balls to the liquid honey
Gently stir to coat the dough in the orange juice and honey
On the side, spray a round drinking cup with some non stick cooking spray and place in the center of a round platter
Spread the honey coated struffoli on the round platter all around the center cup to form a wreath shape
Drizzle the remaining honey liquid on top of the struffoli
Sprinkle the top of the struffoli with some non-pareils
Let the cup sit in the middle of the struffoli for at least 10 minutes to allow the struffoli and honey to set
Remove the cup from the middle of the struffoli and enjoy!