Apple beignets
Beignets, apple fritters, whatever you might call them – they’re wicked in any language
How can I even begin to describe these little precious gems of friedness? Think of a small ball-shaped donut that you can eat lot’s of. Of course, the beignets origins from France and are probably what later evolved into donuts but the reason I love to bake them is that they’re fail-safe and you can vary the fillings depending on season and mood.
But how did they find their way to my Scandinavian kitchen you might ask? First of all, I love donuts. Even the mass-produced version we buy at local fairs that you might think is baked minutes before being served (they’re not) is mouth-watering and I get grumpy like a five-year-old if I can’t have at least one.
I know I’m not the only one with that little dirty habit. Imagine then how they will be if you make them yourself, with good ingredients and then a couple of spices that lifts them a few extra notches.
The first time I made them, it was a late evening and the cravings were turning me into a monster. Let’s just leave it at that.
These particular beignets are filled with apples but why not try…
…chocolate?
…rhubarb curd-filling after they’ve been fried?
…bacon?
…and so on.
They should be eaten fresh, or at least within a few hours. On the other hand, you can make the batter in advance, set aside and then deep fry to them just before serving.
Beignets with apples
Time: Less than an hour
- 1 tbsp butter
- 150 g flour
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg (don’t buy pre-grated)
- 1 egg
- 70 g milk
- Zest of 1/3 lemon
- 1/2 vanilla bean
- 1 apple
- Oil for frying
- Granulated sugar to cover the fried beignets
- Melt the butter and let cool
- Fill a large sauce pan with oil and turn the heat on. Cover with a lid.
- Sift the flour in a bowl and add sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir until thoroughly mixed.
- Make a hole in the middle and crack the egg in the hole. Add milk, lemon zest and the scrape the vanilla bean.
- Fold the dough with a spatula until you have a lump-free batter.
- Peel, core and chop the apples into tiny dices. Fold into batter.
- Check temperature of the oil. 170C (340F) is perfect for beignets. If you don’t have a thermometer, just drop a small piece of white bread into the oil and if starts to sizzly and turn brown in an orderly fashion the temperature is perfect.
- Using two spoons add a spoonful of batter at a time. Immediately when they enter the hot oil, spin it around to create the round shape. It’s like an Egg Benedict, you’ll get the hang of it after a few tries.
- Remove using a slotted spoon and roll immediately in granulated sugar. Let cool on a wire rack.
- Eat them as they are or add a dollop of vanilla ice cream and a little sap reduced to a syrup (or maple syrup)
