Strufoli or Honey Balls The Other Fried Dough

My grandmother made these honey balls at Christmas or Easter time. I found this recipe on the internet. I remember she made them in chocolate too -both ways are delicious!

Dough

2 1/2 cups of flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup of Crisco
1 tablespoon of sugar
zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons of Stock Sweet Vermouth
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

Honey Sauce
16 oz of honey
zest of 1 orange peel
juice of 1/2 an orange (depending on size)

Sift the dry ingredients together. Add zest and combine wet ingredients. Some melt the Crisco, I cut it in. Knead the dough about 5 minutes (by hand). Make a long rope from the kneaded dough. Cut little marble size pieces (maybe a little bigger) and cover them with plastic wrap till your ready to fry them. To make the honey sauce, put the honey in a saucepan, add the juice of the orange and the zest on a low flame just enough to warm and infuse the orange's essential oils into the honey. Some strain this syrup (some don't), I do and zest another orange over a heap of coated strufoli; right before serving.


I use vegetable oil but you can try other oils (oil combos ...) or Crisco (any shortening), heat the oil until it is hot enough to fry a marbles sized piece of dough to golden within a minute or less. We never used a thermometer but I'd say around 365°. Only put a few in at a time or the oil will foam up on you. When they are golden brown take them out of the oil and blot them on brown paper bag with a paper towel over them. I put them on a drying rack, for 30 minutes.


I like to take all the strufoli and put them in a big mixing bowl, pour the honey mixture in and coat all the strufoli. Then you can arrange them in a heap, and sprinkle non nonpareil all over them. Some also put more orange zest strings too.