If you’ve ever been to an Italian household at Christmastime, you’ve probably seen as the centerpiece of the dessert table a literal pile of golden-brown orbs, shiny with honey, and decorated with colored sprinkles – Struffoli!!
In this wonderful article by Daniela Galarza over at Eater.com, the recipe for Struffoli is shared from NYC’s DeRobertis Pasticceria, a purveyor of fine Italian pastries and other baked goods for over 100 years (sadly, they closed their doors in 2014).
This recipe is from an upcoming book by Jaya Saxena called “The Book of Lost Recipes: The Best Signature Dishes From Historic Recipes Rediscovered”. So you KNOW this recipe has to be good. According to Ms. Galarza:
I have my own stories about DeRobertis Pasticceria. One is that, for a summer, I worked at a rival pastry shop across the street. It was slightly heartbreaking, as I had always split my business between the two, hoping to keep both alive in the face of my neighborhood’s ongoing gentrification. I worried I’d aligned myself against a place I loved. Then one afternoon, a customer came into my pastry shop asking for pignoli, the traditional Italian pine-nut cookie. We were all out, but before she left, the owner stopped her. “Go across the street to DeRobertis” he told her, “they make ’em great over there.”
Head on over to the next page to see how YOU can get started on making this remarkably EASY and IMPRESSIVE dessert centerpiece!
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