I have an incredibly social father, and what I loved even more than weekend drop ins were the ones that happened late at night on the way home from going out. I’d be asleep in the car thinking we were on the way home, when instead dad would decide to drop into a friends house. He would beep the car in the driveway, mum would carry me inside, place me on the couch to sleep and I would dose in and out of sleep listening to them chat while having a night cap.
Sometimes, and these were my most favourite times, we would drop in late at night so dad could play pranks on his friends. Making noises outside bedroom windows, or sneaking into houses to pour a bucket of water over his sleeping friends – when I think about it now, I realise how terrible it was of him, but as a child my dad was a hero for doing it. Thank god his friends were all so good natured about it – and don’t worry, they pranked him back.
So, back to the Cicerchiata. Every year, the cicerchiata features at my mothers house and is always one of the sweet treats made with friends in preparation for Christmas entertaining. It is traditionally a carnival time sweet, but for us it is the sweet we associate Christmas with the most and is a specialty of my grandmother’s region – Abruzzo. In Abruzzo you can find the most incredible honey, and so this wreath of fried sweet pasta dough balls slathered in hot honey and almonds is the perfect showcase for great honey. It is best served with coffee at the end of a meal as it is more biscuit than dessert.
Ever since I moved away from home, I’ve been meaning to make a cicerchiata myself at Christmas time, and finally this year after ringing mum to talk through the recipe, I made it for a bring a plate lunch with good foodie friends.
A cicerchiata really is a lot of fun to make, and a little extra effort at Christmas time is worth it. So why not try something a little different for entertaining this Christmas and give it a go.
Cicerchiata
Ingredients
- 5 eggs
- 5 tablespoons sugar
- 500g '00' pasta flour
- 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- oil for deep frying
- 400g good quality honey
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- Coloured cylinder sprinkles
Directions
Place the flour on a clean bench and sprinkle over the sugar. Make a well in the centre and pour in the olive oil and crack the eggs into it. Beat the eggs and oil with a fork in the centre. Then using the tips of your fingers, mix the eggs with the flour, incorporating a little at a time, until everything is combined and a very elastic dough has formed.
Portion to dough into small pieces and then roll each piece out until long snakes form. Cut each length into equal pieces about 1 centimetre in length. Gently toss in flour to stop them sticking together, and repeat with the remaining dough.
Heat oil in a large heavy based saucepan or deep fryer and then fry the small pieces in batches until golden. Transfer to paper towel when cooked to drain the excess oil.
In a large saucepan heat the honey until it has just started to froth, then add the dough balls and cook stirring continually for 5-10 minutes till they have caramelised and absorbed the honey. Add the slivered almonds quickly, stir to distribute, then turn the entire mixture out onto a large pizza tray lined with baking paper. Working quickly and with a spoon, free form a wreath shape then sprinkle with coloured sprinkles. Set aside to cool. Once cool enjoy with espresso coffee.
NB. The dough ratio for this recipe is: 1 egg = 1 tablespoon sugar + 1 tablespoon olive oil + 100g flour.
This is GORGEOUS!!!!
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Well this looks a little familiar! The balls almost look like little chestnuts, but I know that they’re not. Yum!
When I was young and our family was living in Wollongong, my dad used to spontaneously pack us all up (even when we were in PJ’s) and drive up to Sydney to visit friends. Much to my mothers protest as she often thought it was too late to go visiting people. We always had people drop in unannounced with many kids in tow. I think it must be a European thing.
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I think every culture has some kind of fried dough! I’ve had this before — so good. Never made it myself though, and I should. Good recipe, fun story — thanks.
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This is simply amazing!!
I’ve never seen or eaten cicerchaita. Now – I’m so curious 🙂
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Delicious! Loving all these layers of flavour and the chewy nutty combo you’ve got going on. Definitely partial to a bit of Christmas baking and this recipe is sure to please 🙂
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This looks amazing! I love all of the components in it, including the sprinkles. 🙂 I’m certain it’s a joy to eat to. Thanks for sharing this lovely family recipe.
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You have seriously outdone yourself here with this post. I have never heard of cicerchiata before and now that I have seen this, i definitely am inspired to try out the recipe for Christmas. Seriously delicious stuff!
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this is adorable, i may try this out for christmas, but put an asian twist to it!
Great story Amanda. I remember my Dad being very social and dropping in on people only there were 4 of us trying to sleep in the car and we didnt like it very much. I have never seen this type of thing before. What a fabulous idea
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Your dad is a hoot! I can say, as I munched on much of the above, that it tastes sensational. The problem though, is you just keep picking bits off and eating and eating and eating.
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This was amazing! I loved its chewy deliciousness and how pretty and festive it looked! Rolling its name off your tongue was ridiculously fun too 🙂
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This looks gorgeous Amanda! You are so right though….despite all our social media we are actually all so much less social Maybe because it is too easy to connect with someone without leaving home, send a tweet, like a photo on Facebook, such that now we have become lazy socialisers. .
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woah! Bit late in commenting considering this is a Chrissy dish but just scrapping my jaw off the floor here. All the amazing, and I love the backstory. Your dad and his mates sound v cheeky 🙂 PS I Pinned it but my daughter was signed in to Pinterest so on her board it went 🙂
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