Apfelküchle

The batter is closer to a pancake than a fritter, and the article has it as a whole meal.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (milk).

Ingredients

• 4 large firm apples
• 150 g plain flour
• 2 eggs
• 200 ml milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon fruit brandy, optional
• 100 ml oil, for frying
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar, to finish
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, to finish

Method

1. THE BATTER IS CLOSER TO A PANCAKE THAN A FRITTER, AND THE ARTICLE HAS IT AS A WHOLE MEAL. Both halves are its own words: it consists of SLICED APPLES DIPPED IN BATTER AND FRIED TO A GOLDEN-BROWN COLOR, it is SIMILAR TO AN APPLE FRITTER BUT IS MADE MORE LIKE A PANCAKE, and it is EATEN AS A COMPLETE MEAL, having only lately been served as a pudding.
2. SO THE BATTER IS THINNER THAN YOU EXPECT. A fritter batter is thick enough to cling in a dome; this one should coat the slice and let its shape show through. Pancake consistency, not clinging.
3. THE APPLES ARE SLICED ACROSS INTO RINGS AND CORED, which is what makes them cook through in the time the batter takes. Half a centimetre. Cut them into wedges and the middle will still be raw.
4. THE DOUGH IS EGGS, FLOUR, SUGAR, SALT AND MILK, which the article states, and it names BEER, FRUIT BRANDY AND CINNAMON as the things people add.
5. IT EXISTS TO USE APPLES UP, and the article is explicit about it: apples DO NOT TEND TO TOLERATE LONG STORAGE THROUGH THE COLDER SEASONS, and this is a way to use the spare and SLIGHTLY DAMAGED ones. So a bruised apple is the right apple.
6. REST THE BATTER TWENTY MINUTES. The flour takes up the milk and stops it sliding off the fruit.
7. DRY THE RINGS ON A CLOTH BEFORE DIPPING. A wet apple sheds its batter in the pan.
8. SHALLOW FAT, A CENTIMETRE DEEP, AT A MEDIUM HEAT. These are pan-fried, not deep-fried: two or three minutes a side until the batter is set and golden.
9. SUGAR AND CINNAMON WHILE THEY ARE STILL HOT, which is the article's commonest finish -- WARM WITH CINNAMON AND SUGAR -- with a vanilla sauce named as the other one.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Germany · All recipes