Admit it, we’ve all been there — we have all been a witness to those last few lonely apples hanging around the fruit bowl that no one seems to want. You don’t feel like juicing them and you’ve finally decided to throw them out.
Well, don’t even think about it.
With a handful of other ingredients and a few little tricks, these little apples will become a great little dessert. Apple fritters go with everything…as a matter of fact, you might as well call them the little black dress of the food world…
All you have to do is peel them and slice them into rings, then batter and fry. When they are still warm, toss them in some cinnamon sugar and enjoy them as is or serve with an anglais sauce, a homemade custard or chocolate sauce for dipping, or top your favorite ice cream. This is one of those unsung heroes of the dessert world that you just can’t mess up.
Apple Fritters (makes about 1 dozen fritters)
2 medium sized granny smith apples, sliced thin
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
3 Tablespoons of apple juice (from macerated apples)
Enough water to make a medium thick batter
1 egg white
2 Tablespoons of flour
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 level teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup flour for dredging
Canola oil for frying
Coating:
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Peel, core and thinly slice your apples and place them into medium sized bowl. Add I tablespoon of lemon juice,3 tablespoons of granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. Stir everything together and make sure that all the apples get coated well with the mixture. It is important to macerate the apples before you dip them in the batter. Macerating them does 2 things: First it removes some very flavorful liquid that you will add into the batter when you make it and secondly, it tenderizes the apple so that the apple does not taste uncooked in the fritter. The exterior batter cooks fairly quickly, so you need the apple to be soft. Cover the bowl and allow them to macerate for a few hours before you are ready to fry.
When ready to fry, make the batter while you are heating the oil to a moderate high heat. Add the 1/4 cup of flour on a piece of paper to dredge the apples before going into the batter.
To make the batter, add the flour, cornstarch, egg white, salt and baking powder to another bowl then add all of the apple juice from the macerated apples and enough water to make a medium thick batter. Make sure to whisk it all together so that there are no lumps.
First, dredge the apples in flour and then toss into the batter. Use a fork to coat the apple generously on all sides and then quickly add to the oil. Be careful that the oil does not splatter. These will cook fairly quickly, so have a sheet pan set up with a rack or a paper towel to drain off excess oil. Once you remove them from the oil, coat with the cinnamon sugar. Serve warm over ice cream.
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