Struffoli

I got Jeremy the Sopranos series for Christmas. When we first moved to Texas, A&E was running Sopranos episodes every Sunday morning. We'd sit around, eat breakfast, and enjoy a little bit of familiarity in our home. A&E, of course, bastardized the show with crazy censoring and commercials, but we took what we could get. Then they stopped running it. So, just like that, I was able to check off a Christmas gift idea from my list.
 
We've now been working our way through the series, and it's the only thing that's been on our tv in over a week... And we're only about halfway through. Anyway, we enjoy watching and pointing out the places that we know (Bada Bings is a real place, by the way. It has a different name in real life, but Jeremy someone from our household has been there.) In addition to places, we frequently drool over the Italian food that we miss so much down here in Texas. Sfogliatelle, cannoli, peppers and eggs... You get the idea.
 
Last night an episode came on and Carmela is in her kitchen with a pastry box. The first thing out of Jeremy's mouth? "What's in the box?" They could've said any line, or revealed any plot twist and we wouldn't have noticed. We wanted to know what delicacy we were about to have paraded around in front of us.
 
It was struffoli. Honey balls. Fried bits of dough lovingly coated with honey and stacked into mountainous arrangements. I needed it, and I needed it bad. So I popped into the kitchen and made a mess whipped this up:
 

 
And since I can't feed all of y'all, here is my recipe so you can make your own at home.
 
INGREDIENTS:

• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• Oil for frying
• 1-1/2 cups honey
• Cinnamon to taste
• Lemon or orange zest to taste
• 3/4 cup pine nuts or slivered almonds (optional)
• colored candy sprinkles (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, mix 2-1/2 cups of the flour with the sugar, baking powder, lemon rind, and salt. Make a well in the middle and drop in the eggs and melted butter. Mix with a wooden spoon and then with your hands until dough leaves the sides of the bowl.
 
Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead in the remaining 1/2 cup flour, as needed until dough is no longer sticky. Break off pieces of dough and roll into ropes about the diameter of a thick pencil. Cut into pieces 1/4 inch long. Roll these pieces into little balls (optional) and set aside.
 
In deep frying pan, pour oil about 1-2 inches deep and heat. Fry balls until golden brown (1-3 min depending on oil temperature). Drain on paper towels.
 
In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring the honey to a slow boil. Add in cinnamon and citrus zest, if desired. Allow honey to gently boil for a couple of minutes. Add the balls to the honey and stir gently until well-coated.
 
Remove balls from honey and stack onto a platter so that they form a large mound. Sprinkle with nuts and/or candy sprinkles, if desired. Allow to cool.
OR
Place a glass in the middle of a platter. Remove balls from honey and stack onto platter so that they form a ring around the glass. Sprinkle with nuts and/or candy sprinkles, if desired. Allow to cool and remove glass.