← Nouns Cooking · Italian

Ingredients

• 500 g strong bread flour (or half Tipo 00)
• 7 g fast-action dried yeast
• 60 g Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 Eggs
• 200 ml Milk, lukewarm
• 60 g Butter, very soft
• 1 lemon, zest in strips and grated
• 500 ml whole milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 100 g Sugar
• 40 g Cornflour (cornstarch)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.5 l sunflower oil, for frying
• 100 g caster sugar, for rolling

Method

1. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and grated lemon zest. Add the eggs and warm milk and knead for 10 min until smooth. Work in the butter a little at a time for 5 min more, until the dough is silky and elastic.
2. Cover and leave somewhere warm for 1½ hours, until doubled.
3. For the custard, warm the milk with the lemon peel strips. Whisk the yolks, sugar and cornflour in a bowl, pour in the hot milk while whisking, then return it all to the pan. Stir over medium heat for 2–3 min, until thick and bubbling. Remove the peel, stir in the vanilla, cover the surface with cling film and chill.
4. Roll the dough out 1.5 cm thick and cut 8 cm rounds. Set each on a small square of baking paper, cover loosely and leave for 1 hour, until puffy.
5. Heat the oil to 165°C (330°F). Fry 2–3 bomboloni at a time, paper and all (pull the paper off with tongs once it lets go), for 2–3 min per side until deep golden.
6. Drain briefly, roll in sugar while warm, then poke a hole in the side and pipe in the custard until they feel heavy.

Tips

• Keep the oil below 170°C, or the outside browns before the middle cooks through.
• Best eaten the day they’re made, ideally still warm.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

GialloZafferano Cooking with Manuela