Easter Donuts

Another Puglian recipe from our dearest Anna, a typical treat of the Easter holidays. Everybody loves these sweet donuts covered with ‘scileppo‘ (the so called typical Puglia’s glaze)! According to the tradition, in the past the donuts were prepared the day of Christ’s Passion and then left to rest, to finally be baked on Easter Sunday. Surely a rather slow process, but that is definitely worth the waiting!

Difficulty: Medium

Time: 90 min

Serving: 8

 In a bowl add flour, eggs, oil, salt, baking soda and brandy and mix well until you get a soft texture.
Wrap the dough in a tea towel and let it rest for about one hour. Once time has passed, take the dough and shape it in some little donuts. In the meantime put a pot on the stove and, as soon as the water starts boiling, soak the donuts. When they come up take them out and put on a towel. As they dry, make a cut on each donut along their circumference, which will help facilitate the rise and give the donuts the typical form of this recipe. Butter and sprinkle a pan with little flour, arrange the donuts and put them in the oven at 200 degrees for about twenty minutes. Then lower the temperature to 160 degrees to continue the baking for another 20 minutes or until they are golden brown.

Prepare the glaze by placing 200 ml of water in a pot and adding the sugar and a pinch of vanilla extract. Place on the stove and cook without stirring until, taking a bit of sugar between your thumb and forefinger, it gets sticky and stringy. This will mean that the sugar is ready. At this point, put the pan in another pan with water (as bain-marie), so the sugar can quickly cool down, and mix with
the whips, adding a tablespoon of egg white and a pinch of salt only when it is cooled. Finally add a bit of lemon juice and continue stirring. Cover the donuts with the icing and let them dry.