Name: Italian Ricotta, Raisin and Chocolate Doughnuts (Frittelle Ricotta, Uvetta e Cioccolato)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 24
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 cup (250g) ricotta; 3 eggs; grated rind of an orange and lemon, preferably organic, washed and dried; 2 tbsp buttermilk, or milk; 1 1/2 cups (220g) flour; 2 tsp baking powder (or if you are able to find it, Paneangeli “Pane degli Angeli” -an Italian raising agent); 1/3 cup (70g) raisins, soaked in Grand Marnier for at least 4 hours; 1/3 cup (70g) chocolate chips or chunks, good quality; oil for frying (I used grape seed oil); sugar, to coat the doughnuts

Italian ricotta, raisin and chocolate doughnuts are lovely little pillows of fried dough which are difficult not to eat straight out of the pan!

My doughnut recipes are some of the most popular posts on my site, and it’s really not surprising.

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Who doesn’t love light and airy, deep fried puffs of dough, especially when there’s chocolate, jam, cream or some sort of liqueur involved? Well, dear readers, I have another incredibly delicious doughnut recipe for you, and this one is made with ricotta, chocolate, and Grand Marnier soaked raisins! As you can see from the photos, they’re rather spectacular.

I found the recipe on one of my favorite sites, La Cucina Italiana, however I would recommend not mixing in the chocolate chips or chunks because although it tasted fabulous, the chocolate melted and oozed out into the hot oil. Instead, put a few pieces of chocolate hidden inside each doughnut. I also found the dough to be a bit too dry.

I also did a slightly naughty thing, and made some of the doughnuts with a chocolate truffle hidden inside of some of the dough! Truffle-filled-doughnuts? Oh yes, talk about a nice surprise!

Here’s my adaptation of the recipe~

Italian Ricotta, Raisin and Chocolate Doughnuts
(Frittelle Ricotta, Uvette e Cioccolato)

my version of a La Cucina Italiana recipe

Ingredients

1 cup (250g) ricotta
3 eggs
grated rind of an orange and lemon, preferably organic, washed and dried
2 tbsp buttermilk, or milk
1 1/2 cups (220g) flour
2 tsp baking powder (or if you are able to find it, Paneangeli “Pane degli Angeli” -an Italian raising agent)
1/3 cup (70g) raisins, soaked in Grand Marnier for at least 4 hours
1/3 cup (70g) chocolate chips or chunks, good quality
oil for frying (I used grape seed oil)
sugar, to coat the doughnuts

Mix the ricotta and eggs together until well combined. Add the citrus rind, buttermilk or milk, flour, baking powder (or Pane deli Angeli) and mix well. Stir in the soaked raisins; the dough will look like this~

Heat the oil over medium high heat, and test a little piece of dough to see if it is hot enough, without burning the dough, before frying the rest of the doughnuts. If you are using the chocolate chips, I’d recommend putting about 4 or 5 in the center of the doughnut dough, just before dropping it into the oil. It’s messy, but it’s much better than having all the chocolate chips melt and burn in the oil as it does if you follow the original recipe.

When brown, remove the doughnuts and place on a paper-towel-lined plate. Roll in sugar before they are completely cool.

These Italian chocolate doughnuts are best served rather soon after they are made; I would recommend at least eating them the same day, but I can assure you, this won’t be a problem.

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Yield: 24