Apple Fritters

A two-line entry that assumes you already have a fritter batter and know how to run a deep kettle. The gaps worth filling are the batter itself, the frying temperature, and the apple.

• The missing batterThe "Introductory Recipes" batter this points to is not given here; a plain flour-egg-milk coating batter of roughly 1 cup flour, 1 egg, about 2/3 cup milk and a pinch of salt will give a dipping consistency. For the chopped-apple version, cut the liquid back until the batter holds a spoon upright.
• Deep kettle temperatureA cast-iron kettle of lard or oil at 365-375F is the target. Below that the batter drinks fat and the fritters turn heavy; above it the outside colours before the apple inside softens.
• Which applesChoose a firm tart variety that holds shape -- Granny Smith, Braeburn, Northern Spy. Modern soft dessert apples such as Red Delicious collapse into the batter.
• Slice thicknessFor the dipped version, core and cut crosswise into rings about 1/4 inch thick. Thicker rings stay raw at the centre in the two to three minutes the batter needs to brown.
• Chopped versionChop to a small dice and fold in, then drop by the spoonful. These take slightly longer, three to four minutes, and want turning once so both faces cook evenly.
• Draining"Drain" in period books often meant on brown paper; a wire rack over a sheet pan is better, since paper traps steam under the fritter and softens the crust.
• Sugar timingSprinkle while the fritters are still hot so the sugar clings. Cinnamon sugar or a little grated lemon zest in the sugar is a period-appropriate addition.
• YieldTwo large apples and a batter of that size will make something on the order of a dozen to twenty fritters, enough for about four as a dessert or breakfast dish.