Image default
Cooking + Entertaining

Scauratielli: the recipe for fried sweets from Cilento covered with honey

Scauratielli: the recipe for fried sweets from Cilento covered with honey

Picture

Ingredients

Extra virgin olive oil

for the finish

Colorful sugar candies

The scare them they are greedy treaty fried, covered with hot honey and colored sugared almonds, a must in the homes of Cilento during the Christmas holidays. Typically packaged on Christmas Eve, they are also known as boiled donuts because the old recipe called for double cooking, first in boiling water and then in seed oil.

The dough, which in some ways resembles that of choux pastry, is prepared by boiling water in a saucepan with milk, sugar, lemon zest, a drizzle of oil,star anise and vanilla extract; then the flour is added off the heat, all at once and stirring continuously with a wooden spoon to avoid the formation of lumps, and finally the yolk is incorporated. Once many loaves have been formed and the characteristic “arch” shape has been given to the scauratielli, they are fried until golden brown and then immersed in honeyed melted and finally sprinkled, like Neapolitan struffoli, with the sugar pearls (o Devils).

Excellent to taste on snackor as exquisite end of meal Accompanied by a glass of liqueur wine, the scauratielli are also perfect to form a carnival buffet with other irresistible delicacies.

Find out how to prepare scauratielli by following the procedure and advice step by step. If you liked this recipe, also try the honey pignolata.

History and origins

The ritual of frying scauratielli on Christmas Eve does not seem to be casual. The date would in fact be linked to the ancient Hellenic custom of celebrating the winter solsticeor the longest night of the year, almost coinciding with our Christmas, offering the gods a basket of honey-rich sweets as a gift.

Their origin would therefore go back to VII-VI century BC. J.-C.., when Posidonia, which later became Paestum in Roman times, was founded by the Sibarites, descendants of the Achaeans. Prepared to celebrate the end and beginning of a new time cycle, these delicious deep-fried “doughnuts” were once shaped into the shape of alpha (α) e di omega (ω): letters of the Greek alphabet (more precisely the first and the last), characterized by a strong religious symbolism.

How to prepare scauratielli

Pour the milk into a heavy-bottomed saucepan 1.

Add water 2.

Vanilla Extract Fragrances 3.

Mix the sugar 4.

Add a pinch of salt 5.

Flavor with anise 6.

Add the lemon zest 7.

Pour extra virgin olive oil 8.

Mix thoroughly and simmer for a few minutes over medium heat 9.

Then take the lemon zest ten.

Remove from the heat and add the sifted flour 11.

Mix with a wooden spoon, until you get a coarse mixture 12.

Transfer the resulting compound to a work surface 13.

Work with your hands until you get a smooth and homogeneous paste. 14.

Slightly flatten the dough and crack the egg in the center 15.

Enter it carefully 16.

Cut the dough into small pieces and make several loaves 17.

Train the scauratielli 18 and continue like this until all the ingredients are used up.

Fry the scauratielli in plenty of boiling seed oil 19.

When they are golden, remove them with a slotted spoon. 20.

Let them dry on a sheet of paper towel 21.

Melt the honey in a non-stick skillet 22.

Dip pancakes in melted honey 23.

Arrange them as you go on a serving platter. 24.

Sprinkle them with colorful glitter 25.

Pour more melted honey 26.

Bring the scauratielli to the table and serve 27.

storage

The scauratielli are stored at room temperature, tightly closed in an airtight container, to 1-2 days massive.

Advice

There are different ways to prepare scauratielli, based on customs and traditions passed down from family to family. Some use rosemary both to flavor water and to decorate sweets, while an ancient variant calls for the use of boiled potatoesmashed with a pestle then mixed with sugar and flour: in this case the scauratielli take the name of zippulliddi.

If you don’t particularly like the taste of anise, you can substitute an equal amount of anise juice Mandarin or omit it altogether, or you can coat the fried treats in honey, melted over high heat with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drizzle of lemon juice.

New posts