Italian Carnival Pastry

Ingredients

• 2 Eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 30 g sugar
• 250 g flour
• 30 g Butter
• 0.5 tsp Salt
• 0.5 tsp lemon zest (unprocessed)
• 10 ml grappa
• flour (for working)
• vegetable oil (for frying)
• vanilla sugar (to dust)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Beat the eggs and egg yolk with the sugar and vanilla sugar in a bowl until frothy. Add the flour, butter pieces, salt, lemon zest, and grappa, mixing until a stiff dough forms; add more flour if needed. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for about 30 minutes.

2. 2.

   Knead the dough again by hand and roll it out to 2–3 mm thickness on a floured surface. Cut strips or diamonds with a dough cutter having a wavy edge, then let rest on a floured sheet for another 30 minutes.

3. 3.

   Heat oil in a deep fryer or wide pot (about 170 °C; small bubbles appear when a wooden spoon stick is inserted). Slide 8–10 strips into the fat with a slotted spoon and fry until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels and fry the next batch. Sprinkle the Chiacchiere with vanilla sugar before serving, best enjoyed hot.

4. 4.

   Traditionally served with chocolate sauce for dipping.