My Mother’s Sfingi Recipe

My Mother's Sfingi Recipe

( Sfingi di mia Mamma )

In Sicily there are thousands of different types of batters to make the homemade Sfingi: practically every family has his own Sfingi recipe .

My mother made these delicious delicacies only if she was in the mood and had the time to make them. She never weighed or measured the ingredients, but the end results were always positive. She pleased the entire family making this light tasty fried dough dessert, and she was delighted by the compliments and favorable comments each one of us made to her about the Sfingiteddi. A special delight was when she added to the batter a chunk of Primosale, a fresh mild cheese or a piece of goat ricotta: it was a real treat!…

Ingredients

4 packages active dry yeast
2 ½ cups of warm water
1 cup of warm milk
2 teaspoons of sugar
3 teaspoons of salt
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cups of flour
2 medium eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 (additional) cups of flour
Also have handy extra flour and milk.
Canola or corn oil for frying

Instructions

THE BATTER
Pour the warm water and milk in a large bowl and dissolve in it the yeast and sugar: wait 10 minutes to check if the yeast is active and healthy. If it foams the yeast is active.

Add the 2 cups of flour and mix until well blended; set on the side and cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel, keeping it in a warm place, until it almost doubles its size, about 1 hour.

Add 2 eggs, olive oil and the remaining 2 cups of flour a little at a time, making sure there are no lumps in the batter.

If the batter needs extra flour or milk, add to it a little at a time until the right consistency is attained: it should be thicker than muffin batter and if spooned out it should not drop off easily from the spoon.

Cover and set on the side for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

THE FRYING
In a large and deep pot, or in a deep fryer, preheat some vegetable oil to 350F and test temperature by dropping into it a bit of the batter. If it come up fast the oil is ready.

Drop the dough off into the oil using a trigger ice cream scoop or with a tablespoon form a walnut size ball and with the help of another spoon drop it into the deep fryer. Do not overcrowd fryer. Turn the fritters with tongs to evenly cook them and fry until golden.

Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with granulated sugar and cinnamon or a mixture of sugar, cinnamon and dark cocoa.

NOTE:

My mother used this mixture to make special fritters; she drenched into the flour chunks of fresh cheese, like Primosale or mozzarella or a special goat ricotta cheese and then dipped them into this batter, covering them on all sides, and then dropped them into the hot oil until nicely brown. A delicious snack!…