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Peach Fritters
Peel the peaches, split in two, remove the stones, sprinkle powdered sugar over them, dip each piece in batter and fry in hot lard.
A four-line recipe that assumes you already have a fritter batter standing by and a kettle of lard at the right heat. Both of those assumptions need filling in.
- The missing batterThe recipe simply says "batter," leaving the cook to supply one. A typical fritter batter of the period runs about 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, a pinch of salt, 1 egg and two-thirds cup milk, beaten smooth and no thicker than heavy cream. Too thick and the coating sets before the fruit inside softens.
- Fat temperature"Hot lard" is unquantified; the usual modern range for battered fruit is roughly 365-375F. Below that the batter drinks fat; much above it and the outside colors before the peach heats through. Two to three minutes a side, in small batches so the temperature does not crash.
- Lard or oilLeaf lard fries well, though its smoke point is only moderate, so keep the fat from overheating; any neutral oil works. Use at least two inches of depth so the halves float rather than sit on the pan bottom.
- "Powdered sugar"In 1900 the term often meant finely granulated sugar rather than today's cornstarch-cut confectioners' sugar. Either will do here; the point of the pre-sugaring is to draw a little juice and season the fruit, not to coat it.
- PeelingFreestone peaches at full ripeness slip their skins after 30 seconds in boiling water and a plunge into ice water. Underripe fruit resists the peeler and will stay crunchy inside the batter.
- Wet fruit will not hold batterAfter sugaring, the halves weep. Blot them dry before dipping or the batter slides off in the fat. A light dusting of flour on the cut face helps it grip.
- Draining and finishingLift onto a rack rather than paper so the underside stays crisp, and dust with sugar while still hot. Serve within a few minutes; fritters do not wait.
- YieldSix medium peaches give twelve halves, enough for four to six as a dessert. The batter quantity above is about right for that amount.
Fritters occupy an enormous amount of space in late nineteenth-century American cookbooks because they solved a seasonal problem: a batter and a pot of fat turned whatever fruit was glutting the market into a hot dish for the middle or end of dinner. The Butterick Cook Book (1911) came from the pattern company's publishing arm, aimed at the same readers who bought its dress patterns and The Delineator, and its terseness here is characteristic c. Peaches were a natural candidate: American commercial peach growing expanded in the decades after the Civil War as rail shipping and refrigeration reached the Georgia and Delaware orchards, and household books of the period are thick with ways to use fruit that arrived ripe and had to be dealt with that day. Frying in lard rather than oil was the ordinary practice; vegetable shortening was new to the market in these years.