Dairy free, Quick recipe, Special occasions, Sweets, Vegetarian

Italian carnival fritters with raisin (from Piedmont) – Friciò di carnevale piemontesi

The Carnival period is finished but I believe these fritters can be eaten at any time of the year! 😂 Friciò is a typical carnival treat from the Piedmont region in Italy. This time I have put just a little bit of raisins, but next time I will try to add some apples 🍎

Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min

$3-5 total*

About 30-35 fritters

Ingredients

For the dough:

250 g (about 2 cups) all-purpose flour
10 g (2 tbsp) baking powder
200 ml (1/2 + 1/3 cup) whole milk
30 g (about 1 oz) dry raisins
1/2 organic lemon zest
3 whole eggs

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar
a small pinch of salt

For frying and serving:

vegetable oil
sugar

Preparation

Soak the dry raisins in a small cup with some water at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
Mix 1 tbsp of flour with the baking powder and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, add the remaining part of the flour and the milk, and mix well with a spoon.
Add 1 egg at a time, waiting for one egg to be incorporated in the batter before adding the next one.
Add the sugar, lemon zest, squeezed raisins, salt, and flour with the baking powder to the batter. Mix well until incorporated.
Heat the vegetable oil in a small saucepan or Dutch oven (it should be at least 5cm/2 inches deep).
When the oil is ready (at 150 degrees C/300 degrees F if you have a cooking thermometer), add 1 tbsp of batter at a time (my saucepan fits 4 of them), scooping the batter with another spoon to obtain a uniform fritter.
The fritters will flip on their own if they have enough space in the saucepan and if their shape allows it (they turn if they are perfectly round), otherwise turn them when they get gold on one side after about 1 minute.
Set aside on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil and sprinkle with sugar.

Tips & notes

If you don’t have a cooking thermometer, test the temperature of the oil with a smaller portion of the batter. If it gets too dark too soon, reduce the heat of the oil.
Instead of raisins, try to add apples!