No. 3049

Strawberry Fritters with Macaroons, Garnished with Glazed Strawberry Fritters

Beignets de Fraises aux Macarons, Garnis de Beignets de Fraises Glaces

Procure some large strawberries; cover them entirely with apricot marmalade (No. 3675) and roll them in pulverized macaroons, then dip them one by one into a light frying batter (No. 137), and plunge them immediately into very hot frying fat. When the paste has fried, and is of a fine color, drain them off, and roll in vanilla-flavored sugar; dress on a folded napkin surrounded by the strawberry fritters.

Strawberry Fritters.—These are large strawberries dipped in frying batter, and plunged into very hot frying fat, drained, wiped, and bestrewn with sugar, then glazed in the oven; dress them around the above strawberry fritters.

← No. 3048 Souffled Fritters with Lemon Peel or with Ro Hot Entremets — Puddings, Fritters & Soufflés No. 3050 Roman Triumvirate Fritters →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer writes for a brigade that already has the batter, the marmalade and the frying kettle going, so the numbered cross-references hide most of the work. Two things decide the outcome: dry berries and fat hot enough to set the coating before the fruit collapses.

Dry the berries firstHull, rinse and let the strawberries dry completely on a towel, or the apricot coating will slide and the wet fruit will spit in the fat. Slightly underripe, firm berries hold their shape; soft ones turn to jam inside the shell.
Apricot marmalade (No. 3675)In The Epicurean this cross-reference points to an apricot preserve of the usual sort, apricot pulp cooked with sugar and passed smooth; thick apricot jam pushed through a sieve and warmed just enough to spread will serve. It must be stiff, not runny, or nothing will stick to it.
Pulverized macaroonsThese are almond macaroons, dried out and crushed fine — not the coconut macaroon and not the modern sandwich-style macaron. Dried amaretti or plain almond biscuits ground in a processor are the closest stand-in, though amaretti carry more bitter-almond flavor.
Frying batter (No. 137)Ranhofer's light frying batter is of the usual type: flour, a little melted butter, liquid and salt, lightened at the last moment with beaten egg whites. Any thin batter that just coats the back of a spoon behaves the same way.
"Very hot frying fat"The book gives no figure; in modern terms this means fat around 375F, and much below that the batter drinks fat and the berry steams itself to mush. The fritters need only a minute or so, until the coating is set and pale gold.
Vanilla-flavored sugarGranulated sugar left a week in a jar with a split vanilla bean. Superfine sugar rubbed with a scraped bean gives the same effect immediately.
"Glazed in the oven"Sugar-dusted fritters glazed by brief, fierce top heat. A broiler set high, watched constantly for well under a minute until the sugar caramelizes, does the job; a kitchen torch is easier and does not soften the batter.
Yield and serviceFigure five or six berries per person, and fry to order: the shells go limp within a few minutes. The folded napkin is period plating that also blots residual fat; a paper-lined dish serves the same purpose.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer published The Epicurean in 1894 after serving, in two spells, as chef of Delmonico's in New York, and its numbered entries are organized as a working reference rather than a book to cook straight through — hence a recipe that consists mostly of pointers to a batter and a marmalade elsewhere in the volume. Fruit beignets belonged to the entremets course, the sweet or savory dish served toward the end of a long service, and the pairing of two versions of the same fritter in one dish — one crumbed and sugared, one glazed — is characteristic of the period's taste for a garnish that echoes the centerpiece. Strawberries reached New York markets in quantity only in the late spring and early summer, so a dish built on large, sound berries was a seasonal luxury; the apricot marmalade and crushed macaroons did double duty as flavor and as glue, helping the coating cling to fruit too smooth to hold batter.