Chiacchiere, Struffoli, Pignolata, Cicerchiata...Italian Honey Balls

Italians DO eat better!!!

Cicerchiata is one of my favourite Italian desserts, so light and fluffy. It has many names, Struffoli, Pignolata and Chiacchiere just to name a few, depending on the region you hail from.

This traditional Italian honey cake, or "honey balls," as it is sometimes known, is served around Christmas time. Sometimes you will see this dessert on St Joseph's Day (March 19th) tables as well. Usually the balls are piled high in a tree-shaped mound, but you can shape them into a wreath as well.

There are so many different variations for Italian Honey Balls, but the one I am sharing with you today is a super easy recipe. If you’d like, you can add sprinkles, candied fruit, sliced almonds or anything you fancy to dress them up, you can also arrange them into various shapes.

I like to eat them in the simplest form, piled high in a bowl dripping with honey.

RECIPE

6 large eggs

375 g (3 cups) plain (all purpose) flour

¼ teaspoon salt

Canola or vegetable oil for deep frying

710 ml (3 cups) honey

75 g (½ cup) candied fruit, optional

50 g (1/3 cup) slivered almonds, optional

Candy sprinkles, optional

Vegetable cooking spray (if shaping cicerchiata into a wreath)

1. Crack eggs into a small bowl, cover and allow eggs to come to room temperature, 30 minutes.
2. Add salt to eggs; lightly beat together with a fork.
3. Place flour on a clean work surface or in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre.
4. Pour egg mixture into centre of well. With the tips of your fingers or with a fork gradually draw the flour into the egg mixture. Continue until all or most of the flour is incorporated.
5. Use your hands to gather the dough together. Knead the dough until smooth and no longer sticky, 5 to 7 minutes.
6. Shape dough into a ball, cover with an overturned bowl, kitchen towel or wrap in plastic. Let dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
7. Fill a large, heavy-bottomed sauté pan with 5-cm (2 inches) of oil. Attach a thermometer and heat oil over medium heat to between 185° C and 190° C (365° Fand 370° F). (If you don’t have a thermometer, drop a 2.5-cm (1-inch) cube of bread into hot oil. If it takes about 1 minute to brown all sides of the cube and the cube floats to the top the oil has reached the appropriate temperature for deep-frying.)
8. Prepare 2 baking sheets line one baking sheet with non-stick baking paper (for cut pieces of dough) and line the other baking sheet with 3 to 4 layers of paper towels (to absorb excess oil).
9. Knead rested dough for a few minutes.
10. Cut dough into 12 equal pieces. Work with one piece of dough at a time, keeping remaining dough covered. Using the palms of your hands roll each piece into a rope 1¼-cm (½-inch) thick. Cut the rope into 6 1/3-mm or 12¾ mm (¼-inch or ½-inch) pieces. Transfer pieces to prepared baking sheet (lined with non-stick baking paper); cover dough pieces with a kitchen towel. (Cicerchiata puff out quite a bit when frying. If I am preparing a wreath I prefer to cut the dough into smaller pieces. You may want to fry a small batch before cutting all the dough to see which size you prefer.)
11. Cook dough pieces in small batches (do not overcrowd pan), stirring occasionally with a slotted spoon, until lightly golden on all sides, 1½ to 3 minutes (depending on size).
12. Transfer cicerchiata to baking sheet (lined with paper towels) with a slotted spoon.
13. When all dough is fried allow cicerchiata to come to room temperature. Transfer cicerchiata to a large bowl.
14. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan bring honey to a simmer over low heat. Simmer at low heat, stirring occasionally, until honey is melted.
15. Gradually pour honey (reserving 59 ml or ¼-cup if shaping into a wreath) over cicerchiata stirring with a wooden spoon until well incorporated.
16. If using candied fruit, nuts or sprinkles (or all three), sprinkle over top of cicerchiata and stir to well combine. (If shaping into a wreath, reserve a portion of the candied fruit, nuts and sprinkles to decorate wreath.)
17. To serve, spoon into a bowl, pile onto a serving dish or shape into a wreath.

To shape into a wreath

1. Spray the outside of a round ramekin, custard cup or glass with vegetable spray. Place in the centre of a large platter.
2. Using a large spoon, arrange the cicerchiata around the ramekin (cup or glass) to form a wreath shape; allow wreath to set at room temperature, 2 to 3 hours.
3. Remove ramekin (cup or glass) from centre of wreath.
4. Reheat reserved honey, drizzle over cicerchiata. Decorate with reserved candied fruit, nuts and sprinkles.
5. Buon Appetito!

here is a recipe for making them without deep frying....

2 cups water

1 cup margarine

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 cups flour, sifted

10 large eggs

2 cups honey (16 ounces)

Optional decorations such as: sprinkles, silver balls, candied fruits, toasted pine nuts or anything else you like!

Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Grease two baking sheets or line them with parchment paper.
Place the water, margarine and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let stand as the margarine melts in the hot water. Stir in the flour and mix well. Return the saucepan to medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture starts to form a ball and pull away from the sides of the pan. This should take about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let it cool in the pot.
Add the eggs to the mixture, one at a time, and beat using an electric mixture or a wooden spoon – the beating has to be vigorous to fully incorporate the eggs. When all the eggs are incorporated, put the mixture into a pastry bag and pipe tiny balls onto the pastry sheets; the balls should be the size of marbles, or just a little bigger. If you do not have a pastry bag, you can put the dough in a sealable plastic bag and cut out one corner's tip and pipe them out that way (just make sure that your dough is cool!).

Bake for about 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove the balls from the oven and let cool on wire racks.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the honey until it boils. Let it boil for 5 minutes, but don't leave the stove and be careful that it does not boil over. If it starts to boil up, lower the heat. Dip the puffs in the honey. You can throw 10-12 balls in at once. Make sure they are evenly coated in honey, then scoop them out with a slotted spoon and put them onto a plate.

Once all of the balls have been dipped and removed, you can wet your hands and start working on your artistic side. Take the balls and form them into a mound or a wreath on another clean plate. Then finish off the masterpiece with some decorative touches like sprinkles or candied fruit.