Funnel Cakes!

Republished from May 2010.

Mmm…funnel cakes. There’s nothing like them in the world. And when I found this funnel cake recipe (submitted by HeatherD) on Tasty Kitchen not long ago, I immediately printed it out and put it on the top of the stack of Tasty Kitchen recipes to try before I croak.

It’s becoming a rather large stack.

Funnel Cakes, for those of you who aren’t familiar, are a standard carnival treat. A thin batter is poured through—get ready—a FUNNEL directly into hot oil and fried until golden, then topped with plenty of powdered sugar…

And then the world becomes a sweeter place.

 

Here’s what you need: flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, eggs, vanilla, and milk. I use whole milk whenever I can in desserts and baked (and fried) goods, but any milk you have should be fine.

Start by throwing the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, salt) into a bowl.

Whisk them together to combine.

Add eggs, milk, and vanilla.

Whisk it together until everything’s all combined.

Check the consistency…

And splash in more milk if you need it. NOTE: The recipe called for 2 1/4 cups of milk, but I probably wound up adding an additional 1/2 cup of milk to get the thinness I thought it might need.

That’s better. And watch…

You can drizzle it around in the bowl a little…

And practice your funnel cake making skills.

When you’re ready (and the oil is hot), throw some of the batter into a…

Are you ready?…

FUNNEL.

Now, first I’m going to show you the wrong way to make a funnel cake.

If you hold the funnel to far away from the surface of the oil…

The batter can scatter in little pieces and not form into a cohesive, neat funnel cake.

But if you hold the funnel close to the oil (though obviously not IN the oil), you can make sure it stays together.

Just move the funnel around in a circle until it gets to the size you want. Let it brown on one side, then carefully flip it over to the other.

When it’s finished cooking, remove it and set it on a stack of paper towels.

Break out the powdered sugar and the sifter, and sprinkle it on thick.

I love funnel cakes!

Then just pull it apart and chow down! Eat it while it’s warm and crispy. Delicious.

These are really easy to make, and so delicious. The only thing that’s a little tricky is just getting the hang of drizzling the batter into the oil, and making sure the oil is hot enough to cook and crisp the funnel cakes, but not so hot that the cake will immediately burn.

Also, HOT OIL: Keep the pan on one of the back burners if you have little kids.

Enjoy! THANK YOU to HeatherD for sharing this great recipe. I loved it.