Peach Fritters

A shorthand entry that assumes you already have a fritter batter and a kettle of fat going, as the surrounding section of the book would have. The two things it leaves unsaid are the batter's thickness and the temperature of the fat.

• The hinge: dry the fruitPeach quarters shed juice the moment they are cut, and wet fruit will not hold batter. Blot the pieces on a towel before dusting with sugar, and dip and fry them in small batches rather than sugaring the whole lot in advance.
• Fat temperatureDeep fat for fritters wants 350-375F. Below that the batter drinks grease; above it the coating colours before the peach inside has warmed through. Three to four minutes, turning once, is enough.
• What the batter should beThe entry assumes the book's own fruit-fritter batter, which is not reproduced here. A conventional one -- roughly 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, a pinch of salt, 1 egg and about 2/3 cup milk, beaten to the thickness of heavy cream -- will stand in. It should coat a peach quarter without sliding off or sitting on it in a slab.
• Powdered sugarIn this period "powdered sugar" often meant ordinary granulated sugar ground fine, not the cornstarch-cut confectioners' sugar sold now. Either works here; confectioners' sugar clings a little better to damp fruit.
• Choosing peachesFreestone varieties quarter cleanly; clingstones fight the knife. The recipe's 'ripe, but firm' is the point: fruit gone soft collapses in the fat. Peeling is easiest after 30 seconds in boiling water and a plunge into cold.
• Draining and finishingLift onto a rack or crumpled paper, not a flat plate, or the underside steams soft. Dust again with sugar while hot; a little cinnamon or a spoonful of hard sauce is period-appropriate.
• YieldFour large peaches give about sixteen quarters, enough for four as a dessert. The batter above will coat that many with a little to spare.