These are easy and fun to make. In the past I have been known to host funnel cake parties where I let the guests who wanted to make their own. If they were squeamish about deep frying I made theirs for them. The only trick is you need a plastic funnel but it’s worth it to buy a cheap one to have around. For one thing, and this is an ancient hosting trick, if you’re having people over whom you don’t particularly care for and/or are indifferent to or ignorant of the joys of good liquor, buy the cheap stuff and decant it into bottles with better labels. They’ll never know the difference and you’ll save $$$. If I ever have any/all of you over you’ll get the top-shelf stuff, I promise.
This recipe makes quite a few funnel cakes.
In a large bowl beat 4 large room-temperature eggs. Add two cups whole milk, 2 cups water, and 1 tsp. vanilla extract and combine. In another bowl whisk together 1 1/2 lbs. all-purpose flour (6 cups), 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tbsp. baking powder, and a little salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. You might want to use a hand-held electric mixer for this if you have one. This is your batter and you have half a gallon of it.
In a deep cast iron skillet or a pot or something pour in about 3” of vegetable oil. Heat this up to 375 degrees, which is (once again) the perfect temp for deep frying oil. Now here’s the fun part. Hold the funnel in one hand and cover the spout with the index finger of your other. Have someone else pour or ladle some of the batter into the funnel. If you have large hands you can do this yourself but it’s more convivial to work in a pair. Hold the funnel over the center of oil and release your finger. Move around so you’re spiraling outward. Let the batter stay in the oil for a couple of minutes and then with a pair of tongs flip it over and do the other other side for a couple of minutes. Move the funnel cake to a plate or sheet lined with paper towel to absorb the oil, let it cool a little, and dust the top with confectioner’s sugar. Et repetir (and repeat) as they say in French. You can also add some kind of fruit (sliced strawberries are good) and/or whipped cream if you want something more substantial.
You want to eat the funnel cakes while they’re still warm because if you’ve ever had a cold one you know they’re kind of greasy and unappetizing. Ideally your kitchen won’t have seagulls flying around because they LOVE funnel cakes and they’ll swoop down and snatch yours out of your hand.
There’s always a catch.
I never what kind of animal a reader might be harboring under their roof. I recently learned that a friend of mine is adopting a litter of four kittens because “they can’t be separated.” She already has three, and had a few others in the past. She is in her 50s and has never been married. The Republican nominee for NYC Mayor, Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, lives with his wife and SIXTEEN cats in a studio apartment that measures 383 square feet.
That last sentence kinda made me throw up in my mouth….
That is too many cats.
One assumes the Sliwas do not do a lot of at-home entertaining.
@matthewcrawley
Seriously?? Silva? That nutjob?
My ny related news has dropped significantly since no one leaves newspapers on the train anymore.
Oh yes, the one and only. Everyone just assumes he doesn’t stand a chance but nutty Rudy ran on a law and order campaign during a similar time, when crime was escalating, and we got eight years of him. Sadly for Sliwa the Democrats went with former cop and veteran Brooklyn machine hack Adams, who’s also law and order (the “Post” endorsed him) so there went that opportunity. Had it been one of the other Democratic contenders I bet he would have had a fighting chance.
that’s about a 4′ x 6′ area per cat.
I don’t think that’s okay.
Or, you will not have to go one of myriad schlocky farm fairs (little produce, few animals, lots of low-end carnival stuff) – but seriously yummy funnel cakes! Also, deep-fried Oreos…
I went to a fair once with a friend because her daughter really wanted to go, we were obnoxious, making fun of everything, until the horse pulling. Horse pulling is the sexiest thing you have ever seen, instant farmboy giant horse love affair, we were completely mesmerized.
Someone once gave me a kitchen gadget for making funnel cakes, or something similar. It’s a sort of metal rosette you fill with batter and drop into the hot oil. I don’t remember what it’s called, it’s on a shelf in my garage. I’ve never used it. I wouldn’t say no to a funnel cake if someone else made it though.
This is American ingenuity at its finest: an entire stand-alone device to make individual funnel cakes. This coming from a man who has both fruit knives and fish knives.
It’s called a rosette, for a festive Italian cookie.
A bar we used to do work happy hours at offered funnel cake fries as one of their appetizers. Just how it sounds – little 3-4 inch “fries” made of funnel cake batter with a little container of crème anglaise sauce for dipping!