Italian Honeyballs

Just in time for Christmas, I'm sharing the DH's family's holiday recipe for struffoli, or as they call them, honey balls.What's great about this dessert is that it's all made on the stove top, freeing your oven for the holiday ham, or perhaps a cake.  Plus, it's fried and, as the DH says, even an old shoe would taste good if it were fried.  (I assure you, these tiny cookies taste much, much better.)

Honey Ball Day (yelled loudly and enthusiastically by certain family members), the day where the entire family gathers to make these treats (and also drink wine and beer), is a tradition begun in 2000 by Lucy, matriarch of the clan who passed away in February. The event was usually held at her Queens apartment, but in recent years, it has been graciously hosted by my brother- and sister-in-law in New Jersey.  My BIL also makes the dough -- he shares his recipe at the end of this post.

Take small pieces of the dough, made in advance, and roll into long strands.

Cut into small pieces.

Then, the fun begins, at least for my BIL, who slaves over a pot of hot oil, boiling the dough.

The fried balls are stored in a bowl, until the remainder of the balls are fried.  This seems to take hours, but it's really not that long (especially if you're not the one frying them and instead enjoying a glass of wine nearby).

The next step is heating honey and, in a large frying pan, coating the fried dough with the honey.

Pile the honeyed balls onto plates (struffoli are often arranged to resemble wreaths to Christmas trees) and sprinkle liberally with colored nonpareils.

Wrap them in cellophane and, voila, you're done!

My very patient BIL, at the stove, below.

Family portrait, with honey balls! (We finally figured out the timer on the camera, thanks to Josh.)

Below is Lucy's recipe -- love the HA HA at the end!

Apparently the recipe changes each year (so much for tradition!), and this is the one we used this year.

Method (courtesy of Bob, my BIL)

Combine the dry ingredients and then place on your work surface.  Make a well in the center.

Combine wet ingredients in a bowl. Pour wet ingredients into the well slowly while mixing the dough.

Once thoroughly mixed, knead the dough about five minutes. Add a bit of water if too dry.  The dough should be elastic.

Let the dough sit at room covered with plastic wrap for an hour.

Once ready for rolling, cut a two inch section and roll into a thin snake, approximately 1/2 in. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces with knife.

Fry in hot oil 350 degrees until golden. Dry on paper and cool.

Once cool, slightly heat honey in big pot and then add the fried dough. Cover dough thoroughly in honey. Spoon honey balls onto small piles on plates and top with nonpareils (not jimmies!!!). Now have honey balls!

Holiday Plum Pudding with Crimson Sauce

Growing up Jewish in the midwest, and even living here in New York City, I had never before laid eyes upon plum pudding (much less tasted it) before I made this vintage version on Sunday.  I'm pleased to report it is delicious and was a big hit at our belated  family potato latke party.

The c. 1950s American recipe I used does not appear to be traditional, as most plum puddings are baked in a mold, then turned out from said mold, doused with alcohol and flambeed in the kitchen, or table side for a dramatic presentation. But I do think this version has the ability to be baked and presented that way.

I also was astonished to discover that plum pudding (also called Christmas pudding) contains no plums; the name refers to raisins, which is apparently what the British called plums when this dish was created in medieval England.  It is also more of a cake than a pudding, and also has no flour -- relying on bread cubes instead.



Chop some walnuts (the recipe called for "nuts" which often refers to walnuts in vintage recipes) and breaking from tradition, this recipe offered a choice of raisins or dates.  Not being a raisin fan, I used dates.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl before pouring into a buttered casserole dish.

My pudding runneth over during baking (and I've yet to summon the courage to face the floor of my oven, but soon!).  Place the dish on a cookie sheet or some foil before baking to prevent such tragedy in your own oven.

While the pudding is ruining your oven baking, start the crimson sauce, a bright combination of cranberries, honey, butter and fresh lemon juice.