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Apple Fritters
This batter is nice for apple and pineapple as well as other fruit fritters. Cut apples in round slices and cover with fritter batter, before dropping into hot lard. Batter must be a little thinner here than for "Batter Fritters." 1 lb. Sugar, 1/2 cup Water, 2 Eggs, ¾ lb. Currants, 1/2 cup Molasses,
A batter-coating method rather than a full recipe: the fritter batter itself lives under "Batter Fritters" in the same book, and this entry only tells you how to adapt it for fruit.
- Thinner batterThe key instruction is the one about consistency: the book says this batter must be a little thinner than the one given under "Batter Fritters." Thin it with a little liquid until it ribbons off the spoon and clings in a thin, even sheet.
- Cutting the applesCut crosswise into rings about a quarter-inch thick and remove the core with a small cutter. Firm tart varieties hold their shape; a soft eating apple collapses in the fat.
- Dry the fruitBlot the slices before dipping. Surface moisture makes the batter slide off and spits in the fat.
- Hot lardThe book gives no temperature; the usual working range for fritters is roughly 360-375F. Lard fries well and gives a clean flavour; any neutral oil with a high smoke point works the same way. Fry a few rings at a time so the temperature does not crash.
- PineappleCanned rings should be drained and patted very dry; fresh pineapple should be cored and cut to the same thickness as the apple.
- Yield and servingThe book gives no quantity for the batter, so judge the amount by how much fruit you are coating. Drain on paper, then dust with sugar and cinnamon and serve at once; crisp fritters do not keep.
Arm & Hammer's little recipe booklets were premiums issued free with the soda, and it is often said that such promotional booklets served to keep bicarbonate in the American pantry as boxed leavenings gained ground. Fritters earned their place in such collections because they were cheap, fast, and made a dessert out of whatever fruit was to hand; sliced apple in batter appears in English and American cookery long before either leavening was sold in a box. The book's habit of giving one batter and then a series of variations on it apple, pineapple, "other fruit" is typical of the period's frugal, modular approach to household cooking.