In the morning at the cafes, I usually have a hard time figuring out which pastry to have. The croissants are always fluffy and coated with a sugar glaze. The cream filled zeppole are covered in a powered sugar and deep fried into a ball shape. The sugar donuts, though, have become my favorite!
They look so enormous behind the glass counter top and even bigger on my plate, yet I always manage to finish them. Its a wonder to me because back home I never eat this much; it must be something in the Roman air.
So far I have only tried the torus-shaped donuts, which are the typical round donuts with a hole in the center. I have learned after eating three donuts at different cafes that they are called ciambelle. The only thing necessary to qualify as a ciambelle is that it is a ring-shaped cake, with a hollow center. I have only found them with sugar on the outside so far, but I hope to find one with some icing!
I enjoy the Italian version of a donut much more than the American donuts because the Italian donut is much lighter and less greasy. When I bite into the donuts in Rome, I can feel the light air fly out of them, unlike the grease I feel from the ones in America. The only dilemma I run into with the donuts in Rome is that my mouth is covered in sugar after every bite!
"Ciambelle." About.com. 27 May 2008. http://italianfood.about.com/library/weekly/aa120198.htm.
"Doughnut." Wikipedia. 16 May 2008. 27 May 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doughnut#Italy.
"Zeppole." Wikipedia. 16 March 2008. 27 May 2008. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeppole.
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