Step 1

Place the flour on a clean work surface.

Step 2

Make a well in the centre. Add the eggs, egg yolk, sugar, butter, brandy, vanilla and salt.

Step 3

Use your fingertips or a fork to gradually blend the wet ingredient slowly gathering in flour until the dough starts to come together. Add a little more brandy if needed to form a ball.

Step 4

Knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Step 5

Rest the dough for 30 minutes.

Step 6

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, place the flour.

Step 7

Add in the eggs, egg yolk, butter, brandy, sugar, vanilla and salt. Mix on low until combine.

Step 8

Switch to dough hook attachment and knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Step 9

Rest the dough for 30 minutes.

Step 10

Cut small portion of dough off the “mother” dough.

Step 11

Flatten the smaller piece and begin to pass through the pasta machine on the widest setting.

Step 12

Fold and pass it through the widest setting. Continue to fold and pass through the pasta machine 5 or 6 times until the dough is smooth.

Step 13

Dust with extra flour as required.

Step 14

Begin to reduce the setting until you are at the finest setting.

Step 15

Pass the dough through the finest setting and place the length of dough on to you work surface. With the Kitchen Aid Pasta roller, I find I need to go through the thinest setting twice. You could also manually (but carefully) stretch the dough to ensure it is as thin.

Step 16

Cut the dough along the length into about 2in pr 5cm strips which will be approximately 4 -6 inches/10-15cm long. This is just to give you an idea but really how you cut is up to you.

Step 17

I make a small cut in the middle of each piece and twist one end through the cut, as you can see above.

Step 18

Heat oil in a heavy, high sided frypan.

Step 19

When the oil is hot (350°F180ºC) slip in 3 or 4 crostoli (or more depending on the diameter of the frypan).

Step 20

Work quickly because they take about 30 seconds (or less) to cook on each side if you have the oil hot enough. Turn them (I like to use two forks) once a lot of bubbles have formed and before they colour too deeply. Crostoli should be light golden in colour. If they are brown, they are burnt.

Step 21

When cooked on both sides, remove them and drain them on absorbent paper. Crostoli will be a little soft but will crispen on cooling. If crostoli take too long to cook it means that the oil is not hot enough and they will absorb too much oil resulting in heavy crostoli.

Step 22

When cool, dust generously with powdered sugar.

Step 23

Store in an airtight container for two weeks.