Graffe

Yeasted potato dough in rings, fried and rolled in sugar.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (butter), dairy (milk).

Ingredients

• 300 g floury potatoes, boiled and riced
• 500 g strong white flour
• 7 g fast-action yeast
• 80 g caster sugar, for the dough
• 150 g caster sugar, for rolling
• 80 g butter, soft
• 2 eggs
• zest of 1 lemon
• 120 ml warm milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 litres sunflower oil, for deep frying, which is poured off

Method

1. Rice the boiled potatoes while hot and let them cool completely. Hot potato kills the yeast; the starch is there to hold water, which is what keeps these soft for a day longer than a plain dough.
2. Mix the flour, yeast, 80 g sugar, salt and zest, then work in the potato, eggs, milk and butter.
3. Knead 10 minutes. It stays slack and slightly sticky — resist adding flour.
4. Prove 2 hours until doubled.
5. Roll pieces into ropes and join them into RINGS, pinching the join. Prove again on floured paper, 45 minutes.
6. Deep fry at 170C, two at a time, about 90 seconds a side. Lower than you would fry a batter: the dough is thick and needs the time, and hotter oil browns the ring before the middle cooks. Drain on a rack.
7. Roll in the remaining sugar while still hot. Pour the oil off once cooled.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes