2 cups water
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups pastry flour
6 large eggs

For decoration
1 1/3 cups honey
1/3 cup diced candied orange peel (Or, finely grated zest of 1 orange peel)
1/3 cup candied cherries (Optional)
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)

Yield: 8 dozen.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or grease them.



For dough

In a large saucepan bring water, butter and salt to a rolling boil.

Boil until butter is melted.

Stir in flour all at once.

Reduce heat and beat well for 1 minute.

Remove from heat. Cool.

Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, until mixture is smooth and shiny.

Drop mixture by 1/2 teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets, 1 inch apart.

Baked until golden, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Cool.



For decoration

In a large saucepan and bring honey, orange peel, cherries and lemon peel to a boil.

Boil for 2 minutes; remove from heat.

Add puffs, a few at a time, tossing well to coat.

Remove with as slotted spoon to a serving platter, well-greased.

Repeat until all puffs are coated.

With wet hands stack puffs in a pyramid.

The recipe in this entry was adapted from "A Taste of Italy from Progresso" (Milwaukee: Ideals Pub. Corp., 1984). The book can be borrowed for free at the on-line public library, www.openlibrary.org.... Generally, "struffoli" are fried, not baked (For recipes see Italy Revisited/Fritters), but some home cooks prefer them this way. "Struffoli" are often presented piled on top of each other, forming a mountain or pyramid. Sometimes, they are piled on top of each other, and presented as a ring. Personal comments and photo: Mary Melfi......... The following text comes from Wikipedia: "Struffoli is a Neapolitan dish made of deep fried balls of dough about the size of marbles. Crunchy on the outside and light inside, struffoli are mixed with honey and other sweet ingredients. There are many different ways to dress them, but the traditional way is to mix them in honey with diavulilli (nonpareils sprinkles), cinnamon, and bits of orange rind. In Calabria they are also known as scalilli. They are served at Christmas and are sometimes served warm. Struffoli typically have a diameter just bigger than those of M&M's candies, resemble miniature Scones and are often scooped into a small bag for gifts. As the dish is sticky, a glass of water is recommended as accompaniment." S

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