Carnival recipes
Carnival in Italy presents its regional recipes which are focused mostly on sweets. The desserts typical of Carnival can be divided essentially into leavened and fried. Among the leavened desserts we find Bomboloni: although they are believed to have originated from the Austrian "krapfen", have become very famous all around the world, in Europe and in Italy where they are well-known as Bomboloni, bombe (this is usually a reference to the very high calorie density) or ciambelle.
Bomboloni are a typical dessert of Carnival, but now they are so famous to be commercially available all year. Among the best-known Carnival deep-fried desserts are undoubtedly Chiacchiere, which are produced all around Italy and take a different name (frappe, rags, lies, intrigoni), depending on the region.
Castagnole are also famous: they consist of fried balls made with a mixture of eggs, sugar, flour and butter. There are two variants: one filled and another filled with custard or cream; a baked variant also exists. From the Neapolitan tradition come the Zeppole, which consist of yeast dough, closed in loop and fried. The main ingredients are flour, sugar, eggs, butter and olive oil, the pastry cream, a sprinkling of powdered sugar and cherries in syrup for decoration.