Traditional Italian Struffoli with Honey and Orange
Small fried dough balls coated in orange-scented honey and finished with colourful sprinkles: a festive Italian dessert for sharing.
Struffoli are small Italian dough balls fried until golden, then coated in warm honey scented with orange zest. Finished with colourful sprinkles and candied fruit, they make a festive dessert designed for sharing.
This easy recipe serves six and takes about 1 hour 30 minutes, including 30 minutes of resting time.
Take care whenever frying with hot oil: use a stable, high-sided pan, work in small batches and never leave the pan unattended. Discover more inspiration in our recipe collection.
Recipe details
- Preparation
- 30 min
- Cooking
- 60 min
- Serves
- 6
- Difficulty
- Easy
Ingredients
- 300 g plain flour
- 3 eggs
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp butter, softened
- A pinch of salt
- 1 litre vegetable oil, for frying
- 340 g honey
- Finely grated zest of ½ orange
- Colourful sprinkles and candied fruit, to finish
Method
1. Mix the flour, eggs, sugar, butter and salt, then knead for 5–10 minutes until smooth.
2. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
3. Roll the dough into 1 cm ropes, cut into small pieces and shape into balls.
4. Fry in small batches in hot vegetable oil until golden, then drain on kitchen paper.
5. Warm the honey with the orange zest. Add the fried dough balls and stir carefully to coat.
6. Transfer to a serving plate, add sprinkles and candied fruit, and cool before serving.
