Don’t miss out on these mouth-watering Italian Fried Castagnole with Custard (VIDEO)
Get ready to indulge in some carnival Italian dessert with these mouth-watering Castagnole with custard! Made with love and lots of sugar, these sweet treats will disappear in a minute. Don’t miss out on trying this famous delicacy during carnival season!
Fried Castagnole with custard is a traditional Italian Carnival dessert that will literally make your mouth water even when it’s not the carnival! Castagnole, also called “Favette”, are traditional Italian carnival sweets. These are fried sweet balls coated in sugar and filled with delicious custard.
As with any traditional Italian recipe, there are many variations based on tastes and the different regions of Italy. From custard-filled Castagnole, Nutella, or whipped cream, to those cooked in the oven. Today I’ll show you an original recipe for Castagnole taken from the classics of Italian cuisine, in which I added the custard, as we ate in my family at every Carnival!
Italian Custard Filled Castagnole Video Tutorial
Italian Carnival Castagnole Ingredients
For custard:
- 3 yolks
- 75 g granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 15 g all-purpose flour
- 10 g potato starch
- 200 g whole milk
- 50 g heavy cream (or 30 g milk)
For Castagnole:
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- 6 g baking powder
- 50 g granulated sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 40 g softened butter
- 1 tablespoon liqueur
- Zest of 1 lemon, grated
- 700 ml sunflower oil for frying
- 200 g granulated sugar for sprinkling
How to Make Fried Castagnole with Custard
Prepare the custard:
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar for about 2 minutes until you get a clear, frothy, and swollen mixture. Add vanilla, sifted flour, and starch to the mixture. Beat with an electric mixer until a homogeneous and uniform mixture is obtained.
Combine milk and heavy cream in a saucepan and bring to a boil. As soon as you see the very first bubbles, remove from heat, immediately pour the yolk mixture into the milk, and return to moderate heat. Stir quickly with a hand whisk and turn off the heat immediately, in just a few seconds your custard is ready.
Transfer the custard to a clean bowl and cover it with cling film. This technique prevents the formation of a film on the surface. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to cool completely.
Prepare Castagnole:
Sift flour with baking powder. Add sugar, salt, vanilla extract, egg, butter, liqueur, and lemon zest. Knead with your hands until you get a homogeneous and smooth dough. Wrap the dough in a transparent film and leave it at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, you can make Castagnole. Using your hands, shape the dough into 30 balls of about 10 g each.
Fry Castagnole in hot oil, turning occasionally, until golden brown. Drain them onto a plate lined with absorbent paper, and repeat with the remaining Castagnole. When Castagnole have cooled slightly, roll them in the indicated sugar.
Now you can start filling them with custard. Use a very small spout. Insert the spout into the Castagnole without applying excessive pressure, and fill with the custard, leaving the tuft out, so you can see how delicious filling they have!
Your Castagnole with custard are ready!
Storage instructions
I suggest consuming the Castagnole as soon as they are ready, or at the latest during the day. The uncooked dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 day. Freezing is not recommended.
Fried Castagnole with custard
Ingredients
For custard
- 3 yolks
- 75 g granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 15 g all-purpose flour
- 10 g potato starch
- 200 g whole milk
- 50 g heavy cream or 30 g milk
For Castagnole
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- 6 g baking powder
- 50 g granulated sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 40 g softened butter
- 1 tablespoon liqueur
- Zest of 1 lemon grated
- 700 ml sunflower oil for frying
- 200 g granulated sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
Make Custard
- Beat the egg yolks with the sugar for about 2 minutes until you get a clear, frothy, and swollen mixture. Add vanilla, sifted flour, and starch to the mixture.
- Beat with an electric mixer until a homogeneous and uniform mixture is obtained.
- Combine milk and heavy cream in a saucepan and bring to a boil. As soon as you see the very first bubbles, remove from heat, immediately pour the yolk mixture into the milk, and return to moderate heat. Stir quickly with a hand whisk and turn off the heat immediately, in just a few seconds your custard is ready.
- Transfer the custard to a clean bowl and cover it with cling film. This technique prevents the formation of a film on the surface. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to cool completely.
Make Castagnole
- Sift flour with baking powder.
- Add sugar, salt, vanilla extract, egg, butter, liqueur, and lemon zest. Knead with your hands until you get a homogeneous and smooth dough.
- Wrap the dough in a transparent film and leave it at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
- Using your hands, shape the dough into 30 balls of about 10 g each.
- Fry Castagnole in hot oil, turning occasionally, until golden brown.
- Drain the Castagnole onto a plate lined with absorbent paper, and repeat with the remaining Castagnole.
- When Castagnole have cooled slightly, roll them in the indicated sugar.
- Now you can start filling them with custard. Use a very small spout. Insert the spout into the Castagnole without applying excessive pressure, and fill with the custard, leaving the tuft out, so you can see how delicious filling they have!
- Your Castagnole with custard are ready!
