This Apple Fritters Recipe for Portuguese Apple Fritters is an adapted recipe from several sources. I shallow-fried them in a deep frypan, but next time I may just take out my deep fryer or invest in an accurate thermometer...probably the latter.
If you are sensing that perhaps the frying didn't go exactly as planned, you are sensing correctly. I had my thermometer on the side of the pan, with oh about two inches of vegetable oil in the pan, when I turned on the burner to heat the oil. I thought this is going to take a while, so I walked away from the kitchen "for just a second, it seemed to me." Ummmmm, when I returned, the vegetable oil was indeed hot...very hot...too hot. However, the thermometer was not yet reading 350°F, which is what I was aiming for.
I can't say just how hot the oil was that day because I was experimenting with lowering the temperature and upping the temperature. If it's too low, your fritters will be soggy, and if it's too hot...yep, we all know that would result in "burnt morsels." I finally came to the "just-right" temperature and all was fine. I'm sure if you have an accurate deep-frying thermometer, the kind you use for candy-making as well, your experience with our apple fritters recipe will be more pleasant and surely not harrowing. I would say, aim for 350°F but if the oil seems to be getting hot enough and your thermometer is reading a lower temperature, by all means keep that temperature and try a "sample fritter." There is plenty of batter, so you won't run out. I suggest that you keep another apple handy for "experimenting."
Well, that was my latest experience with our Portuguese Apple Fritters, but when they started "coming out" consistently, they didn't last long. Oh well, it's good to serve these little dessert fritters while they're warm anyway.
I hope I didn't frighten you from trying this apple fritters recipe because they really taste delicious with just a sprinkling of sifted powdered sugar. I guess I wanted you to know that even the "Apple Lady" experiences "kitchen malfunctions" and can definitely sympathize with anyone who is having "one of those days." Enjoy our Portuguese Apple Fritters Recipe.
Ingredients for Portuguese Apple Fritters Recipe:
3 good-sized Golden Delicious Apples plus a 4th for experimenting.
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup of anise liqueur, I used Sambuca (Since you only need a little bit, be sure to ask the person at the counter if they have Sambuca in small bottles...otherwise, it gets expensive, unless you're planning to sip on it after dinner or something.)
2 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (Please be sure it's extra virgin.)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
vegetable oil for frying
Method for Portuguese Apple Fritters Recipe:
Peel, core, and slice the apples into between 1/8 and 1/4-inch rounds.
Toss the sliced apples with the 1/4 cup of sugar and the Sambuca or other aniseliqueur and set aside for about 45 minutes.
Begin to heat your oil for frying to 350°F or desired temperature.
Now just whisk together the eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, milk, olive oil and cinnamon.
Shake the flour and baking powder through a sieve and into the wet ingredients.
Mix together until combined and let sit for about 30 minutes or until the apples areready. This batter will become very thick, but you can adjust that with milk.
Drain the apple slices. When the oil is the correct temperature, try one apple slicedipped into the batter, let the excess drip off, and slide it into the oil.
Check the underside of the slice to see if it is browned and if it is, flip it over.
Continue frying until the slice has reached the desired doneness, and lift it out of the oil with either a slotted spoon or other utensil that will allow the excess oil to drip back into the pan.
Drain on paper towels and serve these little morsels of "wonderfulness" with just a little(or a lot) of powdered sugar.
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