Recipe: Fried Zeppole

2 c Water +
10 oz Sugar
3 tb Oil
1/2 ts Salt
2 Bay leaves
2 c Sifted flour
2 tb Semolina
4 Egg yolks
1/4 c Marsala ( sweet )
Olive oil
Powdered sugar

Zeppole comes from the word zeppelin. Zeppole means
fried " puffs " When cooked properly they should be
heavenly and so light you might expect them to float
away. this particular version comes from Naples,
Italy. There are many zeppole recipes, this being more
of a fried puff pastry opposed to other zeppole which
are more breadlike.

Mix water, sugar, oil and bay leaf in heavy saucepan
and bring to a boil. Mix flour and semolina together
and dump into boiling water all at once. Remove from
heat and begin stirring with wooden spoon until it
forms a mass.

Return to lowest heat and cook 5 minutes
stirring. Remove from heat, discard bay leaf and add
yolks 1 at a time beating vigorously after each
addition. Add marsala and beat dough until satiny. You
can use a food processor to prepare this dough if you
wish to make the above steps go faster.

Grease a countertop or board with olive oil and pat down dough
into a pancake. Flatten dough and fold sides over on
itself so there are 3 layers. flatten dough again and
repeat folding 5 times more. Take about 1/3 of dough
and roll out to a thickness of your thumb and make
each piece into a ring. Make 3 or 4 at a time and slip
them into boiling oil. when you turn them, prick them
with a sharp knife or fork in a few places.

Drain on brown paper and serve warm, dusted with confectionery
sugar.