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Carnival fritters served with a chocolate soup

These traditional fritters are very much appreciated all around Italy during Carnival days which root back in medieval times.
BLOCK HORIZONTAL LINE
Serves 4

CARNIVAL FRITTERS

 

 

The fritters:
250 g/8 oz flour, sifted
salt
1 egg
2 egg yolks
seeds of half a vanilla pod

Once you have scraped the seeds from the vanilla pod, store it in an airtight container filled with sugar. This will provide you with vanilla flavored sugar in just a few days.

grated zest from half an orange
1 teaspoon/5 ml olive oil
2 tablespoons/30 ml milk
1 tablespoon/15 ml dark rum
25 g/0.8 oz butter, melted
oil for deep-frying
icing sugar for sprinkling

The chocolate soup:
125 g/4.5 oz dark chocolate
pinch of sea salt
1 teaspoon/5 ml instant coffee dissolved in
1 tablespoon/15 ml hot water
½ cup/125 ml Drambuie

Process the flour, salt, eggs, vanilla, orange zest, olive oil, milk and rum to form a dough. Cover in cling film and  refrigerate for 1 hour.
Roll out with a pasta machine until 5 mm thick.  Brush the entire length of the pasta sheet with butter, then fold in two.  Roll out again until it is 5 mm thick.  Repeat this process three times then cut into long strips of 1½ cm/0.6 in wide and cut each strip into 12 cm/4.7 in long pieces. Tie a loose knot with each piece, then working in small batches, deep-fry the pastry knots in the hot oil until golden all over.  Remove from the oil and place on paper towels to drain.

Combine the cream and milk in a heavy, medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Add the chocolate and cook, whisking constantly until smooth, about 4 minutes.  Remove from the heat and add the liqueur.  Cover and keep warm.

To serve:
On four plates, pile a helping of the fritters off center and sprinkle generously with the icing sugar.  Place a small dipping bowl or small coffee cup next to the fritters and fill with the chocolate soup. Serve warm.

STELLA's avatar

By STELLA

I have had no formal chef’s training. Classical piano was my parents’ choice, and that took care of the first 20 years of my life. Journalism and radio followed (my own choices, this time), and these opened many doors for me into different countries, people, cultures — and, of course, foods. In a six week series on radio I used it as a platform for my love of food and shared lots of interesting recipes and food news with listeners.
My earliest memories of food come from the family kitchen at home; I can still remember the wonderful smells of the dishes my mother prepared. I became aware of the flavors of her creations at an early age. Some I enjoyed and preferred, while others depressed me with their lack of interesting flavors. My mother was a good cook, but not a gourmet, and sadly this often showed. What I did appreciate was that she always involved me in the preparation, sharing her knowledge of nutrition, flavor, color, and the harmonies of each plate she dished up. She was also a genius with leftovers and quick meals when unexpected guests arrived. This is one of the things that stands out in my mind, and it inspired me to create wonderful dishes from leftover foods myself.

I carried on with the tradition of carefully planning meals to combine nutrition, color and flavor, while at the same time offering variety and elegant presentation. In the process, I developed a passion for seeking out the best available products, adhering to each season’s offerings, and treating it with the respect it deserves, which eventually became part of my daily culinary life and travels. I did these things not because I wanted to become a chef, but to satisfy myself, family and friends with creations of gorgeous food and exciting flavors. All of which, I hope, is reflected in this blog.

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