Lemon Lavender Zeppole

Combine butter, water, sugar, lemon zest, lavender, cinnamon and salt in a medium saucepan and heat it over medium high heat. Let it come to a gentle boil and cook for a couple of minutes. Take it off heat and stir in flour until it becomes pasty. Put it back on the heat and keep stirring to cook off the flour and bring it into a ball. This will take about 2–3 minutes.

Transfer the dough into a large bowl and let it cool for a minute or two so that the eggs won’t scramble when they go in. Then use a hand mixer to beat in the eggs one at a time until you have a sticky, well-mixed dough. At this point, the dough can be covered and refrigerated up to a day to fry up later if desired.

When you are ready to fry the dough, pour about 2-3 inches of canola oil into a large stainless steal pan with deep sides. Heat it over medium high heat and use a deep fry thermometer to make sure it stays around 375ºF. Once the oil is hot enough, use a 1 1/2-inch cookie scoop to scoop perfect portions of dough right into the oil in batches. They will take about 5–6 minutes to get puffed up and gorgeously brown on the outside. I did two batches of 7 and one batch of 6 to get 20 zeppole total. When the first batch is done, remove the zeppole with a slotted spoon or spider to a plate lined with paper towel and get the next batch in.

While the first batch is draining and cooling enough to handle, pour the powdered sugar into a medium-sized paper bag. Don’t use plastic here since it could slightly melt into the hot zeppole. Put the first batch into the bag, close it tightly and give it a good shake to coat the zeppole. Serve them immediately while they are still hot, and repeat with the next batches. Enjoy this classic boardwalk treat! These are really only good immediately out of the fryer and don’t keep well as leftovers.