After using a recipe for castagnole that did not work out at all, I created a recipe that I think is perfect. The key to a good fried doughnut is the flour. Ordinary all purpose flour or cake flour will do. There is no need to use OO farina as suggested in some recipes. Also, do not try and bake these. You will just end up with sweet little bread rolls. Castagnole need to be fried and generously dusted with flavoured sugar. They are a speciality of the Romagna region in Liguria and I have made them using amaretto which is traditional.
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Castagnole ♥
I firmly believe in gut instincts and premonitions. And the more stories I hear, the more I believe. I can remember after Lockerbie, watching the news in New York. One person was interviewed saying they had gone right up to the door of the plane, and turned around. Their choice not to board saved their life. And who knows why that happened? A friend was on a flight and the woman next to her apologised for intruding but asked if she had recently had a miscarriage. My friend said yes and the person responded by saying she was sorry for her loss, and that she needed to know it was not her fault. What gut instinct was in play here? Or could the woman have been psychic? One will never know.
Today’s inspirational recipe from Lavender and Lime ♥ Castagnole ♥ #LavenderAndLime Share on X
Last month I was reading a news report about a woman who had been swept off the rocks into the sea. She was alive but unconscious and her identity was unknown. It was an appeal to help try and find her family. A terrible feeling entered my body, and my heart sunk. I could not explain it but I felt a connection. Later that afternoon my cousin posted that her sister-in-law had died. It was the same person. And even though I had never met her, I was in tears. For my cousin, her husband and his family. It reinforced my belief that our death is our fate, and we cannot escape it. This makes it no less tragic as she has young children. But it is my only explanation for what is such an awful occurrence. Do you believe in fate, gut instinct and premonitions?
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Castagnole
Ingredients
- 100 g flour, plus extra for dusting
- 2.5 mls baking powder
- 28 g xylitol
- 21 g softened salted butter, cubed
- 2.5 mls amoretto
- 1.25 mls vanilla extract
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 lime, zest only
- vegetable oil for frying
- vanilla sugar for rolling
Method
- Place the flour and baking powder into the bowl of a stand mixer and mix to combine using a dough hook
- Add the xylitol, butter, amaretto, vanilla, egg and lime zest and bring together to form a dough
- As soon as the dough forms, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until you can shape it into a ball
- Wrap the ball tightly in clingfilm and leave to rest for a minimu of 30 minutes at room temperature
- Divide the dough in half and roll each half into a ball
- Roll each ball into a sausage shape, 2cm thick
- Cut the dough into 2cm lengths then roll each piece into a small ball
- Once all done, measure 1cm of oil into the pan you will use for frying (I always use my wok)
- Heat to 170° Celsius and drop 3 to 5 balls of dough at a time into the oil, making sure not to crowd them, and maintaining the temperature of the oil between 165° Celsius and 175° Celsius
- Fry for 3 minutes, turning half way through, then remove using a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels
- As soon as you can handle the castagnole, roll them in the vanilla sugar and serve
View the previous posts on August 22:
- 2022: Roast Carrot Salad
- 2021: Walk In My Combat Boots
- 2018: Karoo Food
- 2016: Pistachio Honey Cake
- 2014: Black Cherry And Thyme Jam
- 2013: 5 Ounces
- 2012: Herb Crusted Pork Belly
How wrong one can be !!! ‘Castaglione’ . . . thought for sure this had to do with chestnuts as my birth language calls such as ‘kastanid’ ! Never mind as they look delightful and not too sinful !! Shall definitely go back to your recipe!!
Oh yes I do believe in gut instinct . . . hate to tell you how oft it has saved me . . .
They are meant to be chestnut size so I good thought 😉
these little balls look the business Tandy. Yum. Yes I do believe in some sort of ESP/gut instinct. Like just knowing when someone is about to ring or text you, or having a feeling that something good or bad is about to happen and so on. I think our brains pick up on the cosmic ether :=)
That feeling can be quite something!
While donuts around the world are pretty much similar, I always love to try them from different countries. Loving the addition of amaretto in here!
Hope you try these Ben 🙂
These are way too fiddle for me to attempt, but they look beautiful!
Thank you Mimi 🙂