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Linda Cardillo |
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| Cookie Memories |
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Struffoli
Grandma's Cookies
St. Joseph Cream Puffs
We knew Christmas was getting close at our house when my mother made the struffoli—tiny
balls of fried dough that were coated in honey. Like many Italian recipes involving flour
and eggs, the instructions begin with making a well in a mound of flour on a board. When
I climbed Mt. Vesuvius for the first time I realized that those Neapolitan recipes must
have been influenced by the shape of the ever-present volcano looming over the city.
Although my mother mixed the dough for the struffoli, my sister and I had the job of rolling
the dough into long, skinny snakes, cutting the snakes into bits and rolling the bits between
our fingertips into tiny balls. My mother then fried the balls quickly in the hottest oil
until they were puffed and lightly browned. Once the crisp balls were drained, she swirled
them gently in a simmering pot of honey and piled them into a pyramid on a cut-glass platter.
That platter then sat on the sideboard in the dining room, served to guests who stopped by for
a cup of coffee or glass of wine over the holidays. It was always tempting to pull a few loose
balls free from the bottom of the pile. I popped them into my mouth and sucked the honey from
my fingers.
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