The sweet way to pass on a legacy.
Panettone often holds the spotlight for classic Italian holiday sweets. It’s well-loved throughout Italy, but most Italians don’t make panettone since it’s so labor-intensive, instead resorting to buying from a local bakery or artisan brand. It’s time to bring a homemade holiday favorite into the spotlight: the Campanian sweet called struffoli. Tiny balls of dough are deep-fried until they’re crunchy, then soaked in honey and topped with festive sprinkles or candied fruit. Depending on the family tradition, the balls will be piled high into a wreath or a mountain of sticky-sweet delight for all to enjoy.
Struffoli can be an easily overlooked dessert, even for people who have grown up with it on their holiday spread all their lives. Adults will tell little ones “Make sure you have a struffoli,” so there isn’t too much left over. While these bites are drizzled with honey and topped with sprinkles, they aren’t as sweet or eye-catching as fancy cakes and cookies and can be relegated by kids as an “adult dessert.”
But this humble sweet can seem like a representation of the family member who made it: loved as a staple, expected to always be there, and often only fully appreciated when older. The family recipe gets handed down from generation to generation, ingraining into muscle memory after decades of making the same dish, each generation trying every year to match the standard of the previous one. Kitchens will be filled with laughter and singing and recounting memories during the rhythmic task of hand-cutting each piece. New memories can be created, like learning how to shape pasta like orrechiette and seeing if anyone will notice, or trying struffoli fresh out of the fryer without any honey or sprinkles.
A family holiday dessert spread with struffoli.
Learning to make struffoli.
Struffoli is thought to bring good luck and represent prosperity and abundance. It’s easy to see the connection when the task of mixing up the annual holiday batch results in pounds and pounds of struffoli to give out to loved ones, often wrapped up with a bow. Each piece is formed by hand, each bite made to show someone they are loved. Struffoli may not be the most widely known Italian holiday dessert, but its legacy being handed down through family trees is enough to show its importance. Struffoli is a means for family to reconnect, a rite of passage, and a way to remember passed loved ones. And, as with all things around the holidays, struffoli has its own magic in every crunchy, honey-coated bite.
Struffoli Recipe
From our cookbook All About Dolci.
Difficulty
Easy
Serves
6 people
Preparation time
120 minutes
Cooking time
15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
3 1/3 cups (400 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2/3 cup (130 grams) sugar
3 large eggs
3 egg yolks
6 tbsp (85 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 tsp salt
Olive oil, for frying
1 1/2 cups (510 grams) honey
2/3 cup (130 grams) sugar
2/3 cup (100 grams) nonpareil sprinkles
2 tbsp (30 grams) diced candied citron
3–4 (30 grams) candied orange slices, halved
STEPS
Combine the 3 1/3 cups (400 grams) flour and sugar and form into a well on the work surface. Add the eggs, yolks, butter, and salt to the center. Beat the eggs together and gradually draw in flour from the sides of the well until you have a crumbly dough. Keand the dough until well combined, form it into a ball, and let it rest, covered, at room temperature for 2 hours.
Lightly flour the work surface. Pull off small bits of the dough and roll them to form cylinders about the width of a piece of chalk. Cut these into lengths slightly larger than chickpeas.
Line two baking sheets with paper towels and set aside. Fill a high-walled pot with 1 inch of olive oil and place over medium heat. When the oil is hot, fry the pieces of dough until golden, working in batches if necessary. Remove fried dough with a slotted spoon or skimmer and drain on the paper towels.
In a saucepan large enough to hold all of the fried dough, combine the honey, sugar, and 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) water. Cook over low heat until it forms a dark golden syrup. Turn off the heat (but leave the pan on the burner) and add the fried dough to the syrup. Stir well to coat. Transfer the coated pieces of dough to a serving platter and shape into a cone, either by hand or with a wooden spoon. Scatter on the sprinkles, candied citron, and orange slices. Serve at room temperature.