Lidia's Struffoli

Dough
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
Zest of half a lemon, grated
Zest of half an orange, grated
pinch salt
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon grappa, rum, or vanilla
3 cups vegetable oil for frying

Honey Syrup
2 cups honey
½ cup sugar
⅓ cup water
¼ cup small colored sprinkles


Stir the flour, sugar, lemon and orange zest and salt together in a bowl and turn it out onto a clean work surface. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the eggs, butter and grappa to it. With your fingertips, work the eggs, butter and grappa together until more or less blended, then begin working in the dry ingredients. Continue working the dough until it is smooth and evenly blended. Gather the dough together into a ball, wipe the dough from your hands and add it to the dough ball. Clean your hands and the work surface, flour both lightly and knead the dough until smooth, 3 to 4 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature 1 hour. 

Pull off a plum size piece of the dough and roll it out with your palms and fingers to a rope about 1/3 inch in diameter. Repeat with the remaining dough. Cut the dough ropes crosswise into 1/3-inch lengths. Roll the pieces of dough between your hands into balls. 

Pour the oil into a wide, deep skillet or braising pan and heat over medium heat until a deep frying thermometer registers 350 degrees F or a dough ball gives off a lively sizzle when slipped into the oil. Carefully slide about one-fourth of the dough balls into the oil and fry, turning and immersing them with a wire skimmer or slotted spoon, until golden brown on all sides, about 4 minutes. Transfer them with the skimmer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain, first allowing any excess oil to drip back into the pan. Repeat with the remaining dough balls, allowing the oil to return to the correct temperature before frying the next batch. 

Have a bowl of cold water and a serving plate large enough to hold the finished struffoli (about 12 inches in diameter) close by. Stir the honey, sugar and water together in a heavy wide pot large enough to hold all the dough balls over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat to high and bring the syrup to a boil. The syrup will foam up dramatically when it comes to a boil. Continue cooking until the foam dies down and the mixture becomes just a shade darker [ok?], about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and immediately add all the fried dough balls. Toss them in the syrup with a wire skimmer until they are coated. Remove the dough balls from the syrup with the skimmer, allowing excess syrup to drip back into the pan first, and mound them on the serving plate like a pyramid, helping yourself with your hands from time to time, after dipping them into the cold water to protect them. 

Scatter the sprinkles over the mound of struffoli until it is colorful. You may serve them the same day, however it also keeps well for several days covered loosely with plastic wrap.

St. Louis Bread Co. - Coffee Bread Pudding

St. Louis Bread Company -Coffee Bread Pudding

5 cups day-old bread
1/2 c espresso
1/3 c 1/2 & 1/2 cream
5 eggs
1/2 c sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 c raisins
1/3 c pecans
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preheat oven to 325. Butter a 2-qt baking dish. fill with crumbled or cubed bread.
Mix espresso and half& half; pour over bread. Let soak for 1 hour.

Mix eggs and sugar; add nutmeg and vanilla mix well. Pour over bread mixture.
Mix in Raisins and pecans (opt)
Dot the top with 2 tblsp of Butter

Bake 45-60 mins

Louisiana Sweet Potato Pancakes

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound sweet potatoes
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Place sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan of boiling water, and cook until tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, and immediately immerse in cold water to loosen skins. Drain, remove skins, chop, and mash.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Mix mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, milk and butter in a separate medium bowl. Blend sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture to form a batter.
3. Preheat a lightly greased griddle over medium-high heat. Drop batter mixture onto the prepared griddle by heaping tablespoonfuls, and cook until golden brown, turning once with a spatula when the surface begins to bubble.

Grandma Goedker's Bubble Rolls

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons milk
2 (3oz.) box reg. vanilla pudding mix
2 loaves thawed, frozen bread dough


let bread dough rise, pinch into quarter sized cubes. Place 1/2 of the dough in bottom of buttered (glass works best) baking pan. (1 loaf for the bottom layer, 1 loaf for the top)
Cook butter, sugar, milk + pudding over med-hi heat until dissolved. Let cool. Pour half the mixture over the 1st layer of bread cubes. add remaining bread to make the 2nd layer. pour remaining mixture over the top. Let rise until doubled. Bake at 325 for 30 mins. let set for 5-10.
Invert onto platter to serve.

Monkey Bread

1 cup - Granulated Sugar

1 tablespoon - cinnamon, divided

4 - (7.5 oz) cans refrigerated country biscuits (10 biscuits per can)

1 cup - chopped walnuts, divided

1/2 cup - butter or margarine

1 cup - firmly packed  Light Brown Sugar

Instructions »

Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease a 10-inch fluted tube pan.

In medium bowl, combine sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Cut biscuits into quarters. Roll each quarter in cinnamon/sugar mixture. Layer half of biscuits and 1/2 cup nuts in prepared pan.

In small saucepan over low heat, combine butter, brown sugar and remaining cinnamon. Cook, stirring constantly, until butter is melted. Pour 1/2 syrup over biscuits in pan. Layer remaining biscuits, nuts and brown sugar syrup in pan.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Loosen edges of pan and invert onto platter. Serve warm.

Makes 16 serving

Sweet Potato Cheesecake

1 pound sweet potatoes

8 tablespoons (4 ounces) butter, melted

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg yolk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Coat 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick spray.

Line pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil,

allowing it to extend above the sides of pan. Spray again. Set aside.
Pierce sweet-potato skins; microwave on high until tender, about 3 to
5 minutes; cool.

Into medium bowl, scoop sweet potato from skins. With electric beater,
beat until smooth, gradually adding butter. Add flour, brown sugar,
egg, vanilla, salt and baking powder. Beat until smooth.
In a small bowl, beat together until smooth cream cheese, granulated
sugar and egg yolk.

Spread half the cream cheese mixture into prepared pan; top with half
the cream cheese mixture in 8 mounds on top. Repeat remaining sweet
potato and cream cheese mixtures. Pull knife through batters to
marbelize. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out
clean, about 40 to 45 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Remove from pan by lifting edges of parchment or foil paper; cut into
16 squares. Serve with raspberry sauce if desired.