FRIED SWEET DOUGH

Fried Sweet Dough image

Yield makes about 1¹/¿ dozen

Number Of Ingredients 16

6 cups vegetable oil, or as needed, for frying
for the filling
2 cups fresh ricotta, drained
1 cup mascarpone
3 tablespoons amaretto
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons finely chopped candied lemon peel
2 tablespoons finely chopped candied citron or orange peel
2 tablespoons finely chopped bittersweet chocolate or mini-chocolate chips
for the dough
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
4 large eggs, at room temperature

Steps:

Heat the vegetable oil in a wide saucepan to 350 degrees F. (The oil should be an inch or two deep.)
For the filling: Whisk together the ricotta, mascarpone, amaretto, and confectioners' sugar in a bowl until smooth. Stir in the candied peel and chocolate. Refrigerate the filling while you make the zeppole.
Combine 1 cup water, the butter, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to melt the butter. While stirring, add the flour and zest all at once. Cook, stirring constantly, until the dough dries out and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Remove from heat, and add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously to incorporate one before adding the next, until the dough is completely smooth.
Drop a batch of zeppole in 2-tablespoon dollops (a small ice-cream scoop is perfect for this) into the oil, making sure you don't crowd them in the pan, because they will grow in size. Fry the zeppole, turning on all sides, until light and golden brown all over, about 5 minutes per batch. Drain on paper towels, and repeat with the remaining dough.
To serve, when cold cut the zeppole in half with a serrated knife and with a pastry bag pipe the filling onto the bottom half. Cover and dust with additional confectioners' sugar if desired.