Carnival apricot fritters with ginger and lime (Tortelli di carnevale alle albicocche zenzero e lime)

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I'm just back from Italy where Carnival is everywhere, in the streets,  in the bakeries and food stores. Carnival in Italy means colours and fun.... but also a very large choice of desserts, every region has his owns:  Le Chiacchiere also called Bugie or Frappe, Le Zeppole di san Giuseppe, Le Castagnole (see recipe here), Le Graffe napoletane(see recipe here).

Today I want to share with you a fantastic Carnival fritters recipe I found in the Italian food magazine Sale&Pepe. Very different from the Italian traditional fritters, this one has a soft heart of abricot and ginger, a taste of lime.....It's really a special one but so nice and easy to prepare. A Carnival dessert recipe  to try out if you have a little time, your children and friends will love it! Enjoy and have a very funny Carnival!

Makes 15 - 20 fritters

Ingredients:
200gr dried apricots
200gr white granulated sugar
3 limes (peel and juice)
220gr of self-rising flour (or 210gr AP flour + 10gr baking powder)
A small piece of fresh ginger (about 5cm)
Half liter of water
2/3 tbs of water
2 eggs
2 tbs of extra virgin olive oil
4 pieces of candied ginger
1 pinch of salt
Frying oil (I prefer peanut oil)

Instruction:
1. Prepare the lime flavoured sugar: Peel the 3 limes. mix the peels with half of the granulated sugar (100gr) in a small mixer. Reduce to powder.

2. Prepare the apricots: Squeeze the limes and keep the juice aside. Peel the fresh ginger, slice it and cook it for 5 minutes in half liter of water with the lime juice. After  5 minutes add the apricots and cook again for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool. When cooled drain the apricots, open with a small knife and place a small piece of candied ginger inside each apricot.

3. Prepare the batter: Mix the self-rising flour with the salt, add the eggs, 2/3 tbs of water, 100gr of granulated sugar and 2 tbs of olive oil. Mix well.

4: Fry: Pour the frying oil in a frying pan, bring to 170/180 C°, once the temperature is reached, dip one by one, the abricots in the batter then fry. Turn the fritters several times till they get a nice golden color. Place on the paper towels to dry then, when still warm, roll each fritter in the sugar/lime powder. Place on a serving plate. Serve lukewarm or cold. Buon appetito e buon Carnevale!