FRITTERS
In making fritters an essential to their success is that the fat in which they are fried be very deep and boiling hot. Always test it by dropping into it a small spoonful of batter. If this do not rise quickly to the surface, swell rapidly, and acquire a light brown hue, your fat is too cool. Let it stand over the hottest part of the range for a few minutes and again test it. When it is at the right temperature fry your fritters quickly, dropping in the batter by the spoonful. When done, remove the fritters with a perforated spoon, and lay them in a heated colander lined with brown paper. Transfer to a hot platter covered with a folded napkin and serve at once.
Fritters à la créme
Stir a pinch of soda into a pint of milk and heat in a double boiler. Wet two tablespoonfuls of corn-starch with cold milk, and when dissolved turn it into the hot milk. Stir until thick; remove from the fire, and beat into it a tablespoonful of melted butter, three beaten eggs and a teaspoonful of vanilla. Pour into a square pan and set aside until very cold. Cut the mixture into small triangles, dip into batter, and fry to a golden brown. Remove the fritters very carefully from the fat, as they are tender and break easily. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Apple fritters
Beat the yolks and whites of five eggs separately. Into the yolks stir three generous cupfuls of sweet milk, a pinch of salt and three scant cupfuls of flour, sifted with a teaspoonful of baking-powder. Beat for a minute, add the stiffened whites and, when these are blended, a cupful of peeled and thinly-sliced apples. When the fritters are done and transferred to a hot dish, sprinkle them liberally with powdered sugar to which a little cinnamon has been added.
Orange fritters
Make a plain fritter batter with two eggs, a cupful of milk, half a teaspoonful of salt and sufficient flour to make a batter that will pour from the spoon, or coat whatever fruit is put into it. Peel the oranges and separate into sections, taking out the seeds. Dip these sections into the batter, covering well, and slide carefully into hot cottolene or other fat, browning, first on one side, then on the other. They can be served with sauce, or simply dusted with powdered sugar. If served as a dessert, use a sauce.
Apricot fritters
Peel and slice fourteen firm apricots and lay them in cold water while you make a batter of the following ingredients: Four eggs, beaten light, a half-pint of milk, a pinch of salt, and a heaping cupful of flour sifted twice with a teaspoonful of baking-powder.
Remove the apricots from the water, and pat them dry between the folds of a clean dish towel. Beat the batter hard, stir into it the fruit and fry at once. Sprinkle with sugar while hot, and serve with a lemon sauce. Canned apricots may be used for this purpose, every drop of juice being removed.
Peach fritters
Peel and slice a dozen peaches, and stir them into a batter made by beating together three whipped eggs, a cupful of rich milk, a pinch of salt and a cupful of prepared flour. Drop this mixture by the spoonful into deep, boiling fat. When the fritters are of a golden-brown color, drain in a colander and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve very hot.
Rhubarb fritters
Scrape the stalks of the rhubarb, cut into quarter-inch lengths; stew in sugar and water for ten minutes; drain and set aside to get cold.
Make a batter of a half-pint of milk, three eggs, beaten light, and a cupful of prepared flour. Beat hard and stir into this batter a cupful of the rhubarb. Drop by the spoonful into deep, boiling cottolene or other fat, and fry to a bright brown. Serve with lemon sauce.
Banana fritters (No. 1)
Whip three eggs very light and beat into them a cupful of milk and a cupful of flour that has been sifted with a teaspoonful of baking-powder and a saltspoonful of salt. Cut six bananas into small bits, stir these into the batter, and drop by the spoonful into deep, boiling cottolene or other fat. When golden brown, drain in a colander lined with tissue-paper. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve hot.
Banana fritters (No. 2)
Peel and cut bananas lengthwise into thick slices. Squeeze over them a few drops of lemon juice, then turn over and squeeze juice on the under side. Dry between soft cloths, and dip into fritter batter, coating each slice thoroughly. Fry in deep, boiling cottolene or other fat to a light brown.
Swiss fritters
Slice stale bread nearly an inch thick, cut round with a cake-cutter, and fry quickly in deep hot cottolene or other fat. Drop each round, as soon as done, into boiling water for one second, to remove superfluous grease. Spread the fritters, as fast as they are fried and dipped, with powdered sugar, wet up with lemon juice. Cover and keep hot until needed.
Almond roulettes
Make a paste of twenty-five blanched and chopped almonds, a pint of fine bread-crumbs, a teaspoonful of extract of bitter almonds, the whipped whites of two eggs and a heaping teaspoonful of cornstarch. Form into balls, and set these in the ice-box for an hour. Make a batter of a cupful of lukewarm water, a pinch of salt, the frothed white of an egg, and a cupful of prepared flour. Take the balls of nut-paste from the ice-chest, dip each ball in the batter, rolling it about until thoroughly coated, and fry in boiling butter. Serve with a cream sauce.
Sweet potato fritters
Boil, skin, and dry in an open oven. Mash while warm, and rub through a colander, or a vegetable press. Stir into a pint of potatoes a cupful of milk, a tablespoonful of butter, a little salt and two tablespoonfuls of sugar; finally, the yolks of two beaten eggs. With floured hands shape into flat cakes, dip into the frothed whites, then in cracker-crumbs, repeating the process. Leave upon ice two hours and fry in deep, boiling cottolene or other fat to a golden brown.
Eat with lemon sauce.