Sweet Sfinci: There was also a request for another Sicilian sweet, which led Sicula to suggest a recipe "from Mary Taylor Simeti's Pomp & Sustenance, which is about the finest English-language Sicilian cookbook I've seen." It does look nice, and I checked a couple of Italian sources. Pino Correnti says that they may be derived from the sweets the ancients made to greet the winter solstice, though he also notes that Amari, whom I am not familiar with, says they're Arab.
He calls for
He calls for
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 6 2/3 cups (800 g) fine cake flour
- 3 1/4 cups (1 cup = 250 ml) water
- 4 ounces (100 g) rendered lard
- 2 eggs
- An ounce (25 g) cream of tartar.
- More lard for frying.
Preparation:
Boil the water, melt the lard in it and then stir in the flour, pour the mixture out onto a marble work surface, incorporate the cream of tartar and the eggs, and work the mixture until you have a soft "ball". Heat lard for frying, and as soon as it's hot pluck of bits of dough from the ball, roll them between your palms to round them, and fry them. While they're turning golden and puffing up, hit them with a fork so that they develop hollow centers; drain them well, then cut them open and fill them with a ricotta or cream based filling, or use pastry cream and a syringe to do the job.
There is also a sfinci recipe with potatoes for San Martino, which sounds more like Mary Taylor Simeti's:
Heat oil for frying, and drop the batter into it a spoonful at a time, removing the sfinci when they have puffed up and become golden. Dip them in honey that's been diluted with jasmine water (I'm not sure where off Sicily you'll find this, alas), and they're done.
There is also a sfinci recipe with potatoes for San Martino, which sounds more like Mary Taylor Simeti's:
- 2 1/4 pounds (1 k) potatoes, boiled, peeled, and put through a potato ricer
- 5 cups (500 g) durum wheat flour
- 2 eggs
- A packet of baker's yeast (figure a cake of live yeast or so)
- 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
- The grated zest of a lemon
- A pinch of powdered cinnamon
- Some honey
- Jasmine water
- Oil for frying
Heat oil for frying, and drop the batter into it a spoonful at a time, removing the sfinci when they have puffed up and become golden. Dip them in honey that's been diluted with jasmine water (I'm not sure where off Sicily you'll find this, alas), and they're done.
