Sweet Rice Sfinci (sfinci di riso) are a Sicilian specialty traditionally eaten during Carnevale or St-Joseph’s Day. These doughnut like fritters are made with sweet orange scented rice and rolled in sugar for serving.
Most holidays in Sicily, and throughout Italy for that matter, are associated with some sort of sweet, usually fried dessert. These doughnut like fritters known by several names including sfinci, sfinge, crispeddi or even zeppole can be made with variety of ingredients such as ricotta or just plain fried puffs of leavened dough like my mom’s traditional sfinci for Christmas Eve.
However, in Messina and Catania (Sicily) sfinci made with sweet rice are popular. These sfinci are typically eaten during the period of Carnevale marking the beginning of lent or for St-Joseph’s Day on March 19th, which incidentally is also Father’s Day in Italy.
Variations of Sweet Rice Sfinci (sfinci di riso)
Sweet rice sfinci are all made with rice cooked in milk until tender very much like rice pudding. The rice mixture is then sweetened with sugar and scented with orange zest. Flour and baking powder are added and they are shaped and fried until golden and soft on the inside.
There are several of variations of this recipe: they are topped with sugar or drizzled with honey; some versions are leavened with baking powder or lievito per dolci which is available in Italy while some add yeast to their dough and allow it to proof for a few hours. Some recipes also add raisins.
Traditional shape:
Sfinci di riso are traditionally baton or stick shaped. However when faced with the task of handling the sticky rice mixture, I decided to opt for the easiest solution possible. That is dropping the batter into the hot oil with the use of a basic cookie scoop.
And quite frankly I am satisfied with these puffy little doughnut hole shaped sfinci. So to all the purists out there, please forgive me for messing with the traditional shape!
What type of rice is best for making Sweet Rice Sfinci?
Arborio rice, a short grain, high starch rice resulting in a creamier texture when cooked is ideal for making sfinci. This is the same rice used for making risotto as well as my favorite Sicilian treat, arancini!
The following are step by step instructions with images to guide you through this recipe. The complete printable recipe card is available at the end of this post.
How to make Sweet Rice Sfinci (sfinci di riso)
Begin by combining milk, a pinch of salt and Arborio rice in a medium sized sauce pan. Slowly bring to a boil, then lower to a gentle simmer. Cook with the lid on, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is absorbed, from 20-25 minutes. The rice will still have some bite to it.
Transfer to a wide, shallow bowl and stir in sugar, the grated zest of 1 orange and vanilla extract. Let cool for about 30 minutes. Stir in one egg yolk.
Sift flour and baking powder and stir into the rice mixture.
Heat about 2 inches of vegetable oil in a heavy bottomed pan. When the oil is hot use a cookie scoop (I used a 1 tbsp. scoop) or a soup spoon to scrape balls of the rice mixture into the hot oil. Do not overcrowd the pan, the sfinci will puff up slightly as they fry. Fry until all sides are golden and crisp.
Transfer the fried sfinci to a paper towel lined tray to absorb excess oil. 
Let cool slightly before tossing in granulated sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Tips and suggestions:
- The rice can be cooked a day ahead and refrigerated overnight. Bring to room temperature before stirring in the egg yolk; flour and baking powder.
- Replace the orange zest with lemon zest.
- Drizzle with honey instead of rolling in granulated sugar.
- Add a handful of raisins to the cooled rice mixture.
- These sfinci, as all other fried sfinci, are best served right away. They tend to soften up when left out too long.
If you give this recipe a try let me know how much you enjoyed it by rating it in the recipe card below. Feel free to Pin it for later. Buon appetito!
Here are more delicious sfinci recipes for you to enjoy!
- Sfinci (Sicilian Fried Dough)
- Potato Sfinci for San Martino
- Savory Pumpkin Ricotta Fritters
- Easy Italian Lemon Ricotta Doughnuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 3 cups whole milk low fat milk will do
- pinch salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 orange zest
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- granulated sugar for rolling the sfinci in
Instructions
- Combine milk, a pinch of salt and arborio in a medium sized sauce pan. Slowly bring to a boil, then lower to a gentle simmer. Cook with the lid on, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is absorbed, from 20-25 minutes. The rice will still have some bite to it.
- Transfer to a wide, shallow bowl and stir in sugar, the grated zest of 1 orange and vanilla extract. Let cool for about 30 minutes. Stir in one egg yolk.
- Sift flour and baking powder and stir into the rice mixture.
- Heat about 2 inches of vegetable oil in a heavy bottomed pan. When the oil is hot use a cookie scoop (I used a 1 tbsp. scoop) or a soup spoon to scrape balls of the rice mixture into the hot oil. Do not overcrowd the pan as the sfinci will puff up slightly as they fry. Fry until all sides are golden and crisp.
- Transfer the fried sfinci to a paper towel lined tray to absorb excess oil. Let cool slightly before tossing in granulated sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- The rice can be cooked a day ahead and refrigerated overnight. Bring to room temperature before stirring in the egg yolk; flour and baking powder.
- Replace the orange zest with lemon zest.
- Drizzle with honey instead of rolling in granulated sugar.
- Add a handful of raisins to the cooled rice mixture.
- These sfinci, as all other fried sfinci, are best served right away. They tend to soften up when left out too long.
- Please note that the nutritional information provided is approximate and may vary according to exact portion size and ingredients used.
Nutrition
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I hadn’t tried these, or even heard of them before reading your post, but they sound lovely! Will give this a try soon.
Hi Frank, a dear reader informed me about these. Imagine, they are made in Messina about an hour away from my parent’s hometown yet my mom had not heard of them either. Isn’t it amazing how Sicilian cuisine varies so much from one town to the next? I’m so glad to have discovered them, they were amazing!
So excited to see this recipe! My Sicilian grandmother made these for holidays and special occasions. They were my favorite! She didn’t use orange zest but she used saffron with lemon zest. Since she didnt use measurements in her cooking her handwritten recipe is somewhat confusing to me. But now I can try to make them both with saffron and with the orange zest. Thank you for posting this one!
Hello, I’m so glad this is similar to the recipe your grandmother made. The addition of saffron sounds interesting to me! Please let me know how they turn out with the saffron and lemon zest. Thanks for reaching out to me!
never seen them in winter time in palermo. like you said, has to be messina and catania cousine.
amazing how local sicilian food is! you move to the next town, and new world of food awaits! 🙂
Hi Tomasz, yes it is amazing how dishes vary from one town to the next. My parents are from the province of Messina however my mom has never heard of these sfinci before either!
Not only the cuisines, but the language has a different tone that will give away what town you’re from
Hello Carmelo, that is so true. There are differences in the dialect even in the town next door to my parent’s!