Italian Carnival fried dough: i Cenci!

Italian Carnival fried dough guys! It’s finally time for.

As Carnival is coming here in Tuscany you can not give up these “sweets” related to the tradition. During these days their perfume pervades every house … especially those with children or with the greedy ones.

The scent of icing sugar is here at my house as well.

Tuscany is famous for fried dough, the same that we call “panzerotti” or “pasta fritta”. You can eat this typical dough during our Private dinners or Cooking Classes in Tuscany and I’ve to say that everyone appreciates the flavor of this typical food.

Furthermore for a Private Chef in Tuscany is taken for granted preparing the dough by scratch. In fact, I always start kneading, as arrived at the villas or holiday homes where live our customers while on vacation.

Well, Carnival fried dough is completely different. First of all, because it’s something sweet, furthermore it’s so crispy and thin that it seems melting in your mouth.

We’re talking about an old Tuscan food: CENCI! My recipe is a small reinterpretation of that of the greatest Tuscan recipes writer: Pellegrino Artusi. Maybe it’s a recipe 200 years old.

Something to remember… the Carnival fried dough should always be “crunchy”!

What’s a typical Carnival food in your country?

Would you like to share the recipe here in the comments?

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Carnival fried dough: I CENCI Toscani

Recipe by Erika Elia (CuocheinVacanza.com)

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Rest time: 1 hour
Total time: 45 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Flour 250 gr (2 cups)
Butter 30 gr (1 oz)
Sugar 30 gr (2 tbsp)
Eggs 2
Yolk 1
Limoncello 1 tbsp
Salt 1 pinch
Peanut or Corn oil to fry
Powdered Sugar

Instructions

1. Make a dough with these ingredients making a fairly stiff dough.
2. Knead with your hands a lot, shape into a ball, and let it rest, covered with a cotton cloth for about 1 hour.
3. After resting, the dough will be much softer and easier to roll out.
4. In case it’s too tender, add more flour.
5. Roll it out into a thin rectangle and with a pastry wheel (or knife) cut it into strips as long as your palm and wide as two fingers
6. Make some incisions with the pastry wheel, twist and crinkle the strips, and then fry them in the hot oil or lard (they should float), having different shapes. Transfer to a tray with a paper towel to absorb the extra oil.
7. Dust with powdered sugar once they are cold.
8. This dose is enough to make a big dish.