And the award goes to...

Yesterday morning I woke up and found a nice comment on my post. This normally makes me happy, but when I followed the link I was even happier and very touched by the fact that someone, the Addicted Baker blog, had chosen me together with other 14 excellent blogs because she liked and appreciated my recipe for the Saint Joseph' Sfinci.

I want to thank The Addicted baker from the bottom of my heart, because it means that passion does have recognition sometimes!!! I wanna pass this award to some other blogs that I like:

1. My home cooking (where I learnt to cook my very first apple pie and there are amazing recipes)
2. Cooksister (I love her way of writing especially the lattest post)
3. Italian foodies (lovely Italian recipes and not only Italian)
4. Oh my sugar high (Absolutely gorgeous sweets and desserts)
5. Jim's pancakes (I love his pancakes and the shapes as well)
6. Kara's party ideas (just the idea of organising parties makes me smile, very nice blog)
7. The decorated cookie (how a normal cookie can become art)
8. Extra icing (the cakes I'm dreaming of make)
9. Gluten free goddess (another interesting way of eating)
10. Traveler's lunch box (I like its recipes)
11. All things sicilian and more (very nice blog that talks also about my land)
12. Food and thoughts (I agree with eating and thinking what to eat)
13. Simple recipes (nothing is better than a simple recipe!)
14. Dashi Dashi (I like how they care about japanese cuisine)
15. The Addicted Baker (a lovely person who gave me the award and a lovely blog that is teaching me a lot)

Thank you so much, I hope it makes you smile and happy too!

Saint Joseph's Day and the traditional "Sfinci" - The video

Do you know what Sicilians eat on Saint Joseph's Day, the 19th of March? The traditional dessert that we prepare is called "Sfinci di San Giuseppe" and they are soft fried puffs with ricotta cream. According to history were the Arabs that introduced the sfinci here, they were initially covered in honey and afterwards replaced with ricotta cream. The name probably comes from isfang which means soft fritters.


A special thanks to the Pasticceria Amato, (via Favara 14/16), just in front of the Massimo Theatre in Palermo and in particular to Antonio Amato and Mr. Pino Amato that showed us how they still prepare these memorable sweets for the festivity.
Have a look at the recipe and the video. I am sure you'll enjoy!!!

For the dough: 250 gr flour 00 - 1/2 lt water - 62 gr lard - 3,5 gr salt - 7-8 eggs (medium size/60 gr. each) - ricotta cream - candied oranges and cherries - vegetable oil or lard to fry
For the ricotta cream: 500 gr sheep fresh ricotta cheese - 300 gr sugar - 80 gr dark chocolate

1. Sift the flour and add the salt
2. Put the water and the lard together in a  sauce pan on a medium heat and let them glue together. Just before boiling remove from gas and mix gently with the flour stirring the whole mix with a wooden spoon. The mix has to be extremely smooth.
3. Transfer now the mix in a blender and add one egg after another until stiffness is very creamy and soft.
4. Put some vegetable oil or lard in a deep pan and wait until very hot. Then, take a spoon of dough and dip them in the oil. Fry until they puff and become golden brown. Remove from oil and try to drain them on some paper.
5. After few minutes with a spatula or a knife and spread some ricotta cheese on top.
6. Decorate the sfince with a thin slice od candied orange and a cherry.
For the ricotta cream:
The sheep ricotta cheese must be very fresh and not too liquid. Mix the ricotta with the sugar. Stir until it turns very creamy, then add some dark chocolate chopped in small pieces.