Baci Panteschi
Baci Panteschi
Fried Pastries Filled with Ricotta and Lemon Zest
The cannolo siciliano, a cylindrical pastry filled with sweetened ricotta, is Sicily’s most famous dessert export, but the island has many other fried dough and sweetened ricotta treats in its arsenal. All across Sicily, you will find brioche, choux pastry, and fried pastry shells paired with ricotta and citrus zest. On Pantelleria, this occurs in the form of a bacio pantesco (“Pantellerian kiss”). Rather than the familiar cylindrical cannolo shell, baci resemble Mexico’s buñuelos de viento or Sweden’s rosettes. A metal mold is dipped into a loose batter, then transferred to hot oil. The expanding batter naturally detaches itself from the mold to finish frying. The best baci panteschi are served at Il Principe e Il Pirata, an excellent trattoria where I could eat every meal for the rest of my life. Every home cook on the island has a rosetta, a flower-shaped iron used to make the baci’s signature shape; you can find your own online (just search for a Swedish rosette iron set) or in hardware stores on the island. A rosetta set costs nine bucks and has a wooden handle so it doesn’t conduct heat when you dip the iron into the hot oil.
Ingredients (7)
Ingredients (7)
For the filling
For the pastry
Instructions
Make the pastry
Whisk together the flour (¾ cup) and beer (¾ cup) in a medium bowl until smooth.
Fill a medium frying pan or cast-iron skillet with 1 in of neutral oil and heat the oil over medium-high heat to 375 °F.
Dip the rosetta iron into the oil until hot, about 30 seconds (this will make the batter detach more easily). Remove from the oil, allowing any excess to drip off.
Dip the hot iron into the batter, submerging it nearly to the top of the form (there should be a remaining 1/8 inch without batter), then lift it out, allowing any excess to drip off, and submerge the battered iron in the oil all that way to the top of the form.
The pastry will release on its own as the batter cooks. Remove the iron from the oil after the pastry releases. Fry until just golden, 20 to 30 seconds.
If the pastry does detach after a round 15 seconds, use kitchen tweezers or a knife to remove it from the iron.
Use a slotted spoon or spider to transfer the pastry to paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining batter.
Spoon the filling onto half the fried pastries, distributing it evenly and not going over the edge, then sandwich with the remaining pastries.
Serve immediately, dusted with confectioners’ sugar.
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