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Fruit Fritters
Fruits other than apples may be used in fritters by following the directions for apple fritters. Canned whole fruits drained from syrup may also be used. Apples or other fruit may be coarsely chopped, stirred into plain fritter latter, and dropped by small spoonfuls into deep, hot fat, turning gently, until brown.
This is a variation note rather than a standalone recipe: it assumes you already have the book's apple fritter batter and its deep-fat method. A few things need pinning down before it will work reliably.
- The hinge: dry the fruitCanned fruit drained from syrup is still wet, and wet fruit sheds its batter coat in the fat and spits. Drain it in a sieve, then blot thoroughly on paper or a towel before it goes anywhere near the batter.
- Fat temperatureThe original only says "deep, hot fat." Work at 365-375F. Below that the fritters absorb grease; above it the outside colors before the batter sets around the fruit.
- What "plain fritter batter" means hereThe book's own fritter batter is not repeated on this page; the note assumes you have the apple fritter recipe. A plain fritter batter of this period is a baking-powder batter along the lines of 1 cup flour, baking powder, a little salt and sugar, 1 egg and about 1/2 cup milk. Mix it just before frying, since the leavening starts working immediately.
- Choosing fruitFirm fruit fries best: pears, pineapple rings, apricot and peach halves, banana. Berries and very soft canned fruit collapse into the batter and are better folded in chopped, as the second method suggests.
- Two different methodsWhole or sliced fruit is dipped in batter and lowered in; chopped fruit is stirred through the batter and dropped by spoonfuls. The dropped kind cook faster, about 2-3 minutes, and need turning once they float.
- Batch sizeFry six or eight at a time at most. Crowding the pot drops the fat temperature sharply and produces pale, sodden fritters.
- Finishing and yieldFinishing -- Drain on a rack or paper and dust with powdered sugar while hot. Yield depends on the batter you use and how large the spoonfuls are.
Fritters were one of the great uses for a chemically leavened batter, which is why they occupy a whole section in a book of this kind. The instruction to use "canned whole fruits drained from syrup" dates the page as clearly as anything in it. By the early twentieth century commercially canned peaches, pears, apricots and pineapple were cheap and reliable, and cookbooks began treating them not as a compromise but as an ordinary pantry staple that let a cook serve a fruit fritter in February. The word itself is generally traced through Old French friture to a Latin root meaning to fry, and battered fried fruit appears in English cookery writing for centuries before this book, usually as apple.