seeing apples in a different light

To those who were looking forward to a plethora of brownie posts, rest assured they’re piling up, and getting ready for side-by-side comparisons. Soon enough! I’ve been busy with new projects and orders the past couple of weeks, but already have several brownie recipes bookmarked, and recommended to me. Thank you for all the recommendations!

In the meantime, allow me to share with you a little breakfast indulgence I’ve had a while back, of which I can’t stop thinking of at this very moment. After all, it contains cinnamon, apple, and sugar;– what’s there not to love?

A walk through any local pasar malam will have you drawn towards the brightly-lighted stalls boasting a wide array of fried goodness (of course, ‘goodness’ here is subjective). It almost seems as though anything that can be fried, will be fried. Fritters, particularly, are a popular choice amongst those who love crispy batter-encrusted tropical fruits;– banana fritters and jackfruit fritters being my personal favourites.

The only fruit missing from these piping hot delicacies would be apple fritters.

Don’t expect the oily mush from jackfruit fritters, nor the crunchy crackling crumbs from banana fritters. These are soft on the inside, with a texture bearing semblances to a doughnut/beignet. The cinnamon taste and aroma pulls you in with every bite, the crunch of the chopped apple gives a great contrast to the soft dough, while the sugar glaze leaves you feeling a tad guilty for having an indulgent breakfast by yourself.

I’ve drizzled the glaze ever so slightly over these fritters because I wasn’t sure how sweet the resulting fritters would be, but trust me, go with the recipe and try to coat both sides. The fritter itself is not sweet, so if you don’t have much of a sweet tooth, you can simply drizzle like I did, but if you’re serving these, you’ll find that if you stick to the recipe, the sugar glaze really is the perfect touch the fritters need.

Maybe they’re not the tea-time treat you’ll have every day, but a little here and there won’t hurt.

Apple Fritters
(adapted from here)

Fritter:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup chopped apple

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tbsp milk

1. Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon.
2. Stir in milk and egg until just combined. Fold in chopped apple.
3. Pour oil into skillet so that it is approximately 1 1/2 deep.  Heat oil on high.  Oil is ready when dough floats to top.
4. Carefully add dough to oil in heaping teaspoons.  Cook until brown, about 2 minutes, then flip.  Cook another 1-2 minutes, until both sides are browned. Transfer briefly to paper towels to absorb excess oil, then transfer to cooling rack.
5. Make glaze by stirring milk and powdered sugar together in a small bowl.  Drizzle over apple fritters. Wait approximately 3 minutes for glaze to harden, then flip fritters and drizzle glaze over the other side.  Best served warm.

Recipe Tip: As tempting at it may sound, don’t attempt to make these big. You’ll end up with crispy outsides and uncooked interior. Just stick to a heaping teaspoon, and you’ll end up with lovely doughnut hole-sized fritters.