Italian Carnival Fritters: the recipe for irresistible desserts filled with vanilla cream

Italian Carnival fritters are delicious small sweets of leavened dough flavored with orange zest and stuffed with vanilla cream. This is a typical Italian recipe that families make during Carnevale (Carnival), the festival of excess. Children dress up in costume, have fun and devour sweets of all sorts, just like this one. Fritters are very flavorful and bigger than castagnole, but so easy to make.

Once the dough has been rolled out, you can cut several circular pieces that you will then go to fry in boiling peanut seeds oil until golden brown; finish by sprinkling granulated sugar and filling them with delicate vanilla cream. It's a very simple delicacy that will conquer children and adults, perfect for snack time or to cheer up a party buffet. So let’s find out how to prepare tasty Italian Carnival fritters by following our recipe step by step.

How to make Italian Carnival Fritters

Dissolve the brewer’s yeast in warm milk. In a bowl, combine flour and granulated sugar, then flavor with grated orange zest (1).

Add the egg, pour the milk (2) and start kneading with your hands.

When the mixture is homogeneous, add the soft butter, cut into pieces (3), and continue to knead everything. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling film and let it rise in the refrigerator overnight.

Now prepare the vanilla cream; mix the egg yolks with the granulated sugar and flour (4), until light and fluffy.

Dissolve with the milk, previously heated with the vanilla powder (5) and cook until thickened. Turn off the stove and let the vanilla cream cool.

Roll out the dough to a thickness of about 5 mm and cut in round pieces of 10 cm in diameter, using a glass or a pastry cutter (6).

Heat the peanut seeds oil in a pan, dip the round pieces (7) and fry a few at a time. Once swollen and golden, drain and let them dry on absorbent kitchen paper.

Now pass the small fritters in granulated sugar (8).

Finally collect the vanilla cream in a pastry bag, then make a small cut on the side of the small fritters and stuff them with the vanilla cream (9).

Transfer the stuffed small fritters to a tray and serve immediately (10). Enjoy!

How to store Italian Carnival Fritters

We recommend you to fry these fritters and eat them while still hot. If you wait too long, they will lose their delicious texture.