Zippulas
Description
Carnival in Sardinia is celebrated with delicious fried desserts like zippulas. Find out how to make them with this recipe.
It doesn’t matter if you make them
In our version we suggest you use a funnel to make the famous zippulas or tzipulas twisted into a spiral shape, ideal at any time of the day: for breakfast, as an afternoon snack or as a dessert. Let’s get started!
Ingredients
to recalculate the ingredient amounts
- 00 Flour 335 g
- UHT full cream milk Arborea 165 ml
- Eggs 100 g
- Lemon zest 10 g
- Orange zest 20 g
- Orange juice 50 ml
- Brandy 9 ml
- Dried brewer’s yeast 3 g
- Saffron 5 g
- Peanut oil 270 ml
- Granulated sugar 135 g
Instructions
- 1 To prepare your zippulas, start by mixing the sifted flour with the dried brewer’s yeast, saffron, lemon and orange zest, orange juice and brandy in a large bowl.
- 2 As you stir, add the eggs one at a time, then gradually add the milk until you get a soft and moist dough. Cover the dough with film and leave it to rest for at least 2 hours, or until it has doubled in volume.
- 3 When the right amount of time has passed, heat the peanut oil in a large pan.
- 4 Take a funnel and moisten it with water.
- 5 Push the dough through the funnel into the boiling oil, moving it in a spiral motion to give your zippulas their characteristic shape.
- 6 Once the zippulas are cooked, remove them from the oil with a kitchen clamp, leave them to drain on absorbent paper and let them to cool. Now cover them generously with granulated sugar before serving them.
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Did You Know?
During Carnival, there isn’t a town in Sardinia that doesn’t prepare the famous zeppole (also called zippulas), delicious saffron-flavored fritters scented with orange, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Shaped either into long spirals or doughnut rings, zippulas—which look similar to
parafrittus
but differ in the dough—are among the most beloved sweets for children, perfect to enjoy at any time of day.
Instead of using dry brewer’s yeast, you can opt for fresh brewer’s yeast. Dissolve it in a bowl with three tablespoons of warm milk, then add it to the mixture of flour, eggs, and flavorings, incorporating the remaining milk gradually. Keep kneading vigorously by hand until you obtain a soft, smooth dough.
For an even fluffier texture, you can add two medium boiled potatoes, carefully mashed with a pinch of salt, into the mixture.
If you want to give your zippulas a more rustic taste, you can replace the standard all-purpose flour with semolina flour or durum wheat flour.
To make rising easier, once the dough is ready, place it in a container and cover it with a warm cloth. The heat will speed up fermentation, allowing the dough to quickly double in volume.
Traditionally, zippulas are flavored with grated lemon and orange peel, orange juice, and acquavite. As an alternative, you can use grappa, white wine, sambuca, or anise, and add a sachet of vanillin or a pinch of cinnamon to the dough.
Instead of peanut oil, these Sardinian fritters can also be fried in hot lard. Olive oil, however, is not recommended, as it could alter the flavor too much during frying.
For an irresistible final touch, sprinkle each Sardinian zippula generously with granulated sugar before serving.
The Arborea menus
With our menus, we bring Sardinia to the table, dish by dish.
Come and discover the most traditional recipes of our homeland, Sardinia. We’ve prepared some simple menus for every day and some more elaborate ones for special occasions.
