a ricotta donut recipe, and a little luck.
A local restaurant sells THE BEST hot cinnamon apple fritters as a breakfast appetizer. Not until an order is placed does the dough get dropped into the deep fryer. An eternity of minutes later, the server carries a closed paper bag to your table, shaking and tossing a cinnamon-scented snow globe of wonderfulness and pours out ten 2" sparkly orbs onto a platter. Then they step away and let nature take its course. A small dish of strawberry yougurt is served alongside, but I think that idea was someone's guilt-ridden conscious speaking.
I use the phrase local restaurant in its broadest sense. There are two of these restaurants exactly 40 miles in either direction from our home. Which means it takes a determined effort and 80 miles for the opportunity to sear flesh off the roof of ones mouth. Even more disturbing is the fact that we feel obligated to order breakfast along with the absolutely non-nutritional, but oh-so-good fritters. A solution was needed for this cinnamon-coated problem.
The linked ricotta donut recipe looked like it might work if apples were added. Not wanting to waste ingredients on an unknown, I reduced the proportions from 6 to 1 and then used a stick blender to mix up the liquids because I was too lazy to lift out the KA. Worked like a charm.
Baby Cinnamon Apple Fritters
Makes 30 ~1" fritters (serves 2-4, depending on mouth size and shame-level)
2 C veggie oil for frying
1 egg
1.5 TBL sugar
pinch salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/3 C whole milk ricotta
1/2 C minus 1 TBL flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 Braeburn apple, peeled and cut into tiny 1/8" dice. I know, I know....what a pain. But the pieces need to be small enough to cook within a minute and not leave a mushy mess inside. So work with me here.
Mix Cinnamon sugar in separate bowl:
I used:
1/2 Cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
You want it dark, definitely leaning toward the cinnamon persuasion.
Heat oil to 360 degrees. I used a 6" x 3" high sauce pan and a thermometer. These cook in a heart-beat so don't plan on walking away. Have a cookie tray with a cooling rack on top standing by, lined with paper towels. The rack keeps them lifted, so they don't schmoosh and get soggy.
Get out your stick blender and suitable container. I used the plastic container that came with the blender. Wiz the egg for at least one minute to lighten it up. Add the sugar, salt & vanilla and wiz some more. Add ricotta and wiz until smooth, leaving it with no grainy feeling.
Loosely spoon flour into 1/2 C measurer, level off, then remove 1 TBL. Pour into a bowl, add baking powder, then use a whisk to distribute evenly. Take a bit of flour and sprinkle it over the apple pieces.
Pour liquid in the center and gently hand-stir the flour into a batter. Fold in the flour-dusted apple pieces.
I used a NorPro 1" scoop (see IMAGE for an idea) and fried 8 scoops at a time. Don't be tempted to overload the hot oil or the temp will drop. They only took about 2 minutes to turn golden and the most adorable thing was that they flipped themselves when one side was done! See. I can be amused by just about anything....even self-flipping dough balls.
Scoop out with a slotted spoon onto the paper towels, then while still hot, toss in the cinnamon-sugar.
Serve immediately with café au lait and a side of gloat over that 2.6 gallons still sitting in your gas tank.
Obsessively guilt-ridden cooks can serve with a side of yogurt. Or not.
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g166/Finer_Kitchens/Marilyn_CakeBalls/003.jpg
PS: These DO NOT stay fresh. Within hours they will deflate and get gummy inside. Enjoy immediately as God intended, following the Hole-y Word of The Gospel According to St. Timothy Horton, Chapter 3785, Verse 9583-1.a (for apple)
http://www.tasteandtellblog.com/2008/06/vitas-ricotta-doughnuts.html
http://www.amazon.com/NorPro-675-MINI-MEATBALLER-SCOOP/dp/B00004UE83/ref=pd_bxgy_k_text_c/179-7667719-8476427
A local restaurant sells THE BEST hot cinnamon apple fritters as a breakfast appetizer. Not until an order is placed does the dough get dropped into the deep fryer. An eternity of minutes later, the server carries a closed paper bag to your table, shaking and tossing a cinnamon-scented snow globe of wonderfulness and pours out ten 2" sparkly orbs onto a platter. Then they step away and let nature take its course. A small dish of strawberry yougurt is served alongside, but I think that idea was someone's guilt-ridden conscious speaking.
I use the phrase local restaurant in its broadest sense. There are two of these restaurants exactly 40 miles in either direction from our home. Which means it takes a determined effort and 80 miles for the opportunity to sear flesh off the roof of ones mouth. Even more disturbing is the fact that we feel obligated to order breakfast along with the absolutely non-nutritional, but oh-so-good fritters. A solution was needed for this cinnamon-coated problem.
The linked ricotta donut recipe looked like it might work if apples were added. Not wanting to waste ingredients on an unknown, I reduced the proportions from 6 to 1 and then used a stick blender to mix up the liquids because I was too lazy to lift out the KA. Worked like a charm.
Baby Cinnamon Apple Fritters
Makes 30 ~1" fritters (serves 2-4, depending on mouth size and shame-level)
2 C veggie oil for frying
1 egg
1.5 TBL sugar
pinch salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/3 C whole milk ricotta
1/2 C minus 1 TBL flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 Braeburn apple, peeled and cut into tiny 1/8" dice. I know, I know....what a pain. But the pieces need to be small enough to cook within a minute and not leave a mushy mess inside. So work with me here.
Mix Cinnamon sugar in separate bowl:
I used:
1/2 Cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
You want it dark, definitely leaning toward the cinnamon persuasion.
Heat oil to 360 degrees. I used a 6" x 3" high sauce pan and a thermometer. These cook in a heart-beat so don't plan on walking away. Have a cookie tray with a cooling rack on top standing by, lined with paper towels. The rack keeps them lifted, so they don't schmoosh and get soggy.
Get out your stick blender and suitable container. I used the plastic container that came with the blender. Wiz the egg for at least one minute to lighten it up. Add the sugar, salt & vanilla and wiz some more. Add ricotta and wiz until smooth, leaving it with no grainy feeling.
Loosely spoon flour into 1/2 C measurer, level off, then remove 1 TBL. Pour into a bowl, add baking powder, then use a whisk to distribute evenly. Take a bit of flour and sprinkle it over the apple pieces.
Pour liquid in the center and gently hand-stir the flour into a batter. Fold in the flour-dusted apple pieces.
I used a NorPro 1" scoop (see IMAGE for an idea) and fried 8 scoops at a time. Don't be tempted to overload the hot oil or the temp will drop. They only took about 2 minutes to turn golden and the most adorable thing was that they flipped themselves when one side was done! See. I can be amused by just about anything....even self-flipping dough balls.
Scoop out with a slotted spoon onto the paper towels, then while still hot, toss in the cinnamon-sugar.
Serve immediately with café au lait and a side of gloat over that 2.6 gallons still sitting in your gas tank.
Obsessively guilt-ridden cooks can serve with a side of yogurt. Or not.
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g166/Finer_Kitchens/Marilyn_CakeBalls/003.jpg
PS: These DO NOT stay fresh. Within hours they will deflate and get gummy inside. Enjoy immediately as God intended, following the Hole-y Word of The Gospel According to St. Timothy Horton, Chapter 3785, Verse 9583-1.a (for apple)
http://www.tasteandtellblog.com/2008/06/vitas-ricotta-doughnuts.html
http://www.amazon.com/NorPro-675-MINI-MEATBALLER-SCOOP/dp/B00004UE83/ref=pd_bxgy_k_text_c/179-7667719-8476427
)