Fried Sweet Dough Recipes

BASIC SWEET DOUGH

Steps:

• Scald milk in a medium saucepan. Add cold water to scalded milk. Remove 1/4 cup liquid; mix yeast into liquid when cooled to lukewarm. To liquid in saucepan, add salt, sugar, shortening, and eggs. Add dissolved yeast to saucepan. Mix well.
• Sift and measure the flour into a large bowl. Make a well in the flour, and pour the liquids into the well. Stir with a large wooden spoon until liquid disappears.
• With one hand, mix dough in bowl using swinging rotary motion. Gradually form dough into smooth ball, then knead in bowl for 2 minutes. Brush top with melted shortening. Cover, and allow dough to rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.
• Punch down dough. Use dough for any sweet bread recipe.

FRIED SWEET DOUGH

Steps:

• Heat the vegetable oil in a wide saucepan to 350 degrees F. (The oil should be an inch or two deep.)
• For the filling: Whisk together the ricotta, mascarpone, amaretto, and confectioners' sugar in a bowl until smooth. Stir in the candied peel and chocolate. Refrigerate the filling while you make the zeppole.
• Combine 1 cup water, the butter, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to melt the butter. While stirring, add the flour and zest all at once. Cook, stirring constantly, until the dough dries out and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat, and add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously to incorporate one before adding the next, until the dough is completely smooth.
• Drop a batch of zeppole in 2-tablespoon dollops (a small ice-cream scoop is perfect for this) into the oil, making sure you don't crowd them in the pan, because they will grow in size. Fry the zeppole, turning on all sides, until light and golden brown all over, about 5 minutes per batch. Drain on paper towels, and repeat with the remaining dough.
• To serve, when cold cut the zeppole in half with a serrated knife and with a pastry bag pipe the filling onto the bottom half. Cover and dust with additional confectioners' sugar if desired.

FRIED SWEET DOUGH BALLS WITH HONEY

Steps:

• Pulse together the flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, the lemon zest, orange zest, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor. Whisk together the eggs and vanilla in a separate bowl. Pour the egg mixture into the food processor with the motor running, and then drop in the butter pieces. Process until a smooth dough forms, about 30 seconds. Knead the dough on the counter a few times, then wrap in plastic and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
• Make the syrup: Combine the honey, the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/3 cup water in a medium skillet over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and cook until syrupy, about 6 to 7 minutes.
• In the meantime, heat 1 inch of vegetable oil in a pot or straight-sided skillet to about 365 degrees F, or until a piece of dough sizzles on contact. Pinch off a golf-ball-sized piece of dough, and roll into a rope about 1/2 inch wide. Cut the rope of dough into pieces the size of a hazelnut and roll into balls. Repeat until all the dough is used.
• Fry the struffoli in batches until puffed and deep golden, about 3 to 4 minutes per batch. Drain on a paper-towel-lined baking sheet, and repeat with the remaining struffoli.
• Toss the struffoli in the hot honey syrup, in batches, as many at a time as you can fit without crowding. Roll the struffoli in the syrup until well coated, then scoop them up with a slotted spoon or strainer, and drain off the excess syrup. Stack the struffoli in layers on a plate to form a cone, sprinkling each layer with the sprinkles as you stack. Repeat until all the struffoli are coated in the honey syrup and covered in sprinkles. Drizzle the completed stack of struffoli with any remaining syrup, if you wish.

TORTAS FRITAS (FRIED SWEET DOUGH)

Steps:

• 1. Mix together the topping ingredients (sugar and cinnamon) on a small, shallow plate; set aside.
• 2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt with a fork. Form a well in the center, and add the melted butter. Mix until ingredients are well incorporated. Slowly add the warm water a little at a time, and mix until the dough is well mixed and still moist but not sticky or "mushy". (You might not need the entire amount of water.)
• 3. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and knead for 3 minutes or until the dough feels smooth and uniform. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Roll each dough portion into a ball about the size of a large walnut. Allow the dough balls to rest on a lightly floured surface for 15 minutes.
• 4. Take a dough ball, flatten it with your palms, and use your palm and heel of your hand to form each dough ball into a flat round about 1/8-inch thick. Use a sharp knife and cut an X in the middle of each dough round (which helps them to cook evenly in the center).
• 5. Heat the oil in a deep skillet or a heavy-duty saucepan. The oil needs to get very hot to ensure adequate (quick but deep) frying with minimal absorption of the oil. If the oil isn't hot enough, the Tortas become greasy and dense.
• 6. Drop 2 to 3 dough rounds into the hot oil at a time, depending on the size of your pan. Let the dough rounds fry for about 45 to 60 seconds or until golden brown. Using a pair of tongs, gently flip the tortas and let the other side fry for another 45 to 60 seconds or until golden. (The oil will be very hot, so be careful not to splash oil!). Remove fried tortas to a paper towel to absorb excess oil. When cool enough to handle, roll warm tortas in the sugar/cinnamon mixture, and serve while still hot.