The Hirshon Croatian Christmas Fritters – Fritule

Fritule Image Used Under Creative Commons License From flickr.com

Citizens, show me a person who doesn’t like doughnuts and I’ll show you either a person with Celiac disease who doesn’t know any better or a card-carrying member of the Body Snatchers alien invasion! Doughnuts are found all over the world, but in Croatia they have truly hit the sweet spot (pun intended) for this sweet treat!

This Croatian doughnut, known as Fritule (also called Uštipci), is a festive Croatian pastry resembling little doughnuts. They are made all along the Croatian coast, from North of the Istrian peninsula throughout the whole of Dalmatia down to the Southern region of Dubrovnik. They are often eaten during Carnival season, during Lent (a time of fasting and repentance in the spring before Easter), as well as at Christmas Eve.

They are somewhat similar to Italian zeppole and venetian Frìtole, but are usually flavored with rum (or brandy) and citrus zest, containing raisins, and are topped with powdered sugar.

Fritule resemble the Dutch Christmas snack “Oliebollen” which would be literally translated as “balls of oil”.

Usually flavored with the Croatian spirit known as rakija, (pronounced rah-key-ya) rakija is in fact the collective term for fruit brandy popular throughout Eastern Europe. The special TFD touch to this recipe is to use a unique version of rakija from the interior of the country called viljamovka (viliam-ovka), which is made from Williams pears. You can substitute a good Pear brandy for viljamovka if you can’t find it.

I am very confident you will love this recipe, my Citizens – it has deep-fried delectable sweet goodness to it, I promise!

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