Orange and chocolate ricotta fritters with honey

Desserts intimidate me. With a blog called Baketard, this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. During the summer, I make ice cream constantly. I can whip up a soufflé or throw together a silky crème brûlée with the best of them, but when it comes to baking or dough, it's hit and miss. I'm so used to cooking savory foods where you get to improvise according to your tastes, with baking I tend to breeze by steps, forget an ingredient, or be left baffled because I just don't do it often enough to understand things like what a dough should feel like when it's ready. Cooking is joy and relaxation for me. Baking is work. Because of this, I try to find recipes that tickle my brain and inspire me, push my comfort zone a little bit, but don't put me into an all-day, overwhelming project to make something like a cake that I'm unlikely to execute well.

I found this recipe at my favorite recipe website, Australian Gourmet Traveller. I've gushed about this magazine before. (I prefer it to our US cooking magazines because it never dumbs anything down for the reader, and the food coming out of Oz these days completely inspires me.) I made this last night to cap off an Italian dinner party, and we all loved it. David and I also loved it left over with our coffee this morning. I don't know WHY we can't diet around here.

The recipe calls for you to make the dough and let it sit for an hour in the refrigerator. I actually made it about 3 hours ahead and it worked just fine.  I didn't have golden caster sugar (do they even sell it in the US?) so I sent out a plea to my baking gurus on twitter, and the consensus was to blitz some demerara sugar in the food processor as a substitution. I didn't have any handy, so I blitzed some turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw) instead and it worked just fine.

These doughnuts didn't seem greasy, and the chocolate orange flavor came blazing through, even with the honey. Enjoy!

Orange and Chocolate Ricotta Fritters with Honey

Serves 6

225 gm ricotta, drained

30 gm dark chocolate, finely chopped

50 gm golden caster sugar

30 ml orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier or Cointreau

1 egg and 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

1 tbsp finely grated orange rind

75 gm (½ cup) plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

For deep frying:

vegetable oil

To serve:

pure icing sugar

To serve:

honey

 

1. Combine ricotta, chocolate, sugar, liqueur, egg, egg mixture and orange rind in a bowl and mix until smooth, add flour and baking powder and mix to combine. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. Heat vegetable oil in a deep saucepan or deep-fryer to 180C. Using 2 teaspoons, form ricotta mixture into rough quenelles and drop in batches into hot oil. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until golden and cooked through, remove using a slotted spoon and drain on absorbent paper. Dust heavily with icing sugar and serve hot, drizzled with honey.

  

Comments

[Zuri]

Oh Marc, what a wonderfully original recipe!! Sounds delicious. I'm copying this one.

Pity is, even though quite slender, I have been diagnosed with diabetes, so have to be careful of the best things in life! But this one sounds fairly safe!!

I'm still such a foodie -- my sister and I have had a recipe book published. Fortunately the best foods are still fine for me! <wink>

Hope you're well and happy! Hugs from me, Zuri.

[Marc]

Zuri, sorry to hear about the diabetes but glad to hear you have it under control. Congratulations on the book! How can I find it?

Hope you're well! Great to hear from you.

Marc

[Anita]

I found this recipe in a magazine while at the hairdresser's and as you do, I tore it out and have being wanting to try it out. I noticed that some of the ingredients have not been included in the cooking method. After googling, I finally found your recipe which has all the information that was missing in my article.
Thanks, I'm looking forward to having this over Easter with my family!

[Lilian]

I miss Australian Gourmet Traveller. And delicious. And the now defunct Vogue Entertaining + Travel. All the recipes are well tested and they're quality publications. I'm glad you like it!