One of the most characteristic Christmas sweets is the struffoli of Naples.

Struffoli is a deep fried sweet, some kind of a doughnut with honey and small candies or candied fruits. The latter should remind us on the Christmas tree decorations.
The name struffoli actually is coming from the Greek word strongulos meaning dough ball and the sweet itself is part of the culinary tradition of Campania.
The most famous struffoli makers were the nuns of the monateries of Croce di Lucca and Santa Maria dello Splendore.This seems quite odd as nuns should be  sober in everything and struffoli is surely everything, but not sober or moderate.