italian svingi (donuts)

[andypandy]

thanks for the recipes, I am going to try one this weekend, I'll make a small batch.

[pinky kookie]

I found all these similar and very good recipes for Sfinci from Sicily, Italy:

SFINCI DI SAN GUISEPPE -
From Kyle Phillips, former About.com Guide
"Sfinci di San Giuseppe: March 19 is San Giuseppe, the day the Church sets aside to honor Joseph, Mary's husband. Depending upon where you happen to be in Italy the day is either important or not; San Giuseppe tends to be more venerated in the South than in the North, and is especially important in Sicily, where people frequently turn to him for assistance when things become grim".

Prep Time: 30 minutes - Cook Time: 20 minutes - Total Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients:
4 1/5 cups (500 g) flour
3 eggs and 3 yolks
1 cup (200 g) sugar
An ounce (25 g) of live yeast cake
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
Olive oil for frying (or other, if you prefer)
Preparation:
Warm the milk and dissolve the yeast in it. Mix it into the flour, together with the eggs, yolks, sugar, and vanilla, and work the ingredients together until you have a soft dough. Let it rise until bubbles form at the surface, then heat abundant oil in a high-sided pot and drop the dough into it a few tablespoons at a time, lest the oil cool overmuch. Remove the sfinci when they've turned golden and drain them on absorbent paper, then dust them with a bit more sugar and serve them.

SFINGE DE SAN GUISEPPE RECIPE - with Ricotta Cheese -
From Kyle Phillips, former About.com Guide
"Sfinge de San Giuseppe: Not too long ago there was an exchange of sfingi recipes following a request I replied to in Cosa Bolle in Pentola, the newsletter. The recipes posted don't come close to exhausting the supply of sfingi out ther, however. Here's another, kindly posted by CEILW1 (that's her screen name), to the Forum":
Hi, I have this recipe that you may enjoy; my grandmother made it for us as children, and my sons still love it. You can add nutmeg if you'd like, my grandmother used it and vanilla.

Prep Time: 45 minutes - Cook Time: 10 minutes - Total Time: 55 minutes
Ingredients:
1 pound (450 g) ricotta cheese
1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla, and nutmeg if you like
6 eggs
2 cups (240 g) SELF-RISING flour
Preparation:
Mix the ricotta, sugar,vanilla, and eggs. Mix in SELF-RISING flour, beat until smooth. Heat oil to 370 degrees F (185 C).
Drop tablespoons of batter into the oil a few at a time, and remove the sfinge from the oil when they reach a golden brown. Drain them on absorbent paper. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar, or cinnamon sugar or honey. Best eaten warm. Enjoy!!

SWEET SFINCI - with lard -
From Kyle Phillips, former About.com Guide
"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".
Prep Time: 45 minutes - Cook Time: 45 minutes - Total Time: 1 hour, 30 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.

SWEET SFINCI SAN MARTINO - with potatoes -
From Kyle Phillips, former About.com Guide
"There is also a sfinci recipe with potatoes for San Martino, which sounds more like Mary Taylor Simeti's:
Ingredients:
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
Make a batter with all the ingredients (except the honey and the jasmine water), using warm but not hot water, and let the better sit for a hour.
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.

[pinky kookie]

And here are these other good recipes for Italian Scallili and Struffoli just in case that somebody is interested in these recipes:

SCALLILI - ITALIAN CHRISTMAS COOKIE -
Source: Rosalie
"This is a traditional Southern Italian cookie. Recipe handed down over 100 years from Domonico, Italy".
Prep time: 30 min
Ingredients
6 eggs
1/2 C milk
1/2 C oil
1 C sugar
1/2 tsp anise extract
3 tsp. baking powder
Flour - enough to make a stiff dough that you can roll
Honey
Anisette Liquor
Directions:
1. Beat eggs,milk, oil, flavoring and sugar.
2. Add dry ingredients to form a stiff dough.
3. Roll into tiny log about the size of your baby finger. Cut this in half. Fry in hot oil and drain. Heat honey and anisette liquor together and drizzle over cookies- be generous with this.

STRUFFOLI -
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis - 35 reviews -
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/struffoli-recipe/index.html

HONEY DRENCHED CHRISTMAS FRITTERS: STRUFFOLI -
Recipe courtesy of Mario Batali - 4 reviews -
Recipe copyright 2000, Mario Batali. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/honey-drenched-christmas-fritters-struffoli-recipe/index.html