Banana Fritters

A short recipe that assumes you already have a fritter batter to hand and a kettle of fat at the right heat. Both of those are where it succeeds or fails.

• The batter is elsewhere in the bookThe recipe assumes you already have one. A typical fritter batter of the period runs to about 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, a pinch of salt, 1 egg and 2/3 cup milk, beaten smooth and no thicker than heavy cream. It should coat the fruit without sliding off in the fat.
• Fat temperatureThe recipe gives none. Period books judged fat with a cube of bread: browning in about sixty seconds for uncooked batters, forty for already-cooked mixtures, which puts a fritter in the region of 360-370F. Below that the batter drinks oil; much above it and the coating colours before the banana inside heats through.
• Pat the fruit dryAfter an hour in sugar and lemon juice the bananas will be wet and slippery. Blot them before dipping, or the batter will not adhere and will shed in the fat.
• Use firm bananasFully ripe fruit collapses in the hour of maceration and again in the fat. Choose bananas that are yellow but still slightly firm at the tip.
• Lemon juice or wineEither works, and a fortified wine such as sherry or Madeira suits a dessert fritter. The acid keeps the cut fruit from darkening as much as it flavours it.
• DrainingBrown paper was the standard drain of the period. A wire rack set over a sheet pan does the job better, since paper traps steam against the underside and softens the crust.
• TimingFry in small batches, two to three minutes, turning once, until evenly deep gold. Crowding the pan drops the fat temperature and gives greasy fritters.
• Yield and servingSixteen pieces, enough for four. Serve hot, dusted with powdered sugar or with a hard sauce; they go limp within a few minutes of leaving the fat.
• The variationsPeaches and pears should be peeled and quartered, oranges sectioned and freed of pith and membrane. Both peaches and pears carry more water than banana, so dry them thoroughly.