Portzelky (Yeast Fritters or New Year's Cookies) and Apple Fritters

Here is a family favorite that we HAD to have for New Year's, along with Roll Kuchen (please see archived recipe). I can still see my mom slaving over a hot stove making these and I have prepared them myself a few times over the years. This recipe seems closest to the one my mom used:

Portzelky

• 2 pkgs dry yeast
• 2 c milk
• 1/4 c white sugar
• 1/2 c butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 eggs
• 2 lbs golden or sultana raisins - washed and soaked in warm water, then drained
• Enough flour for a soft batter
• Lard or oil to deep-fry fritters

Prepare yeast as directed on package. Warm milk slightly with butter, salt and sugar until slightly warm. Add yeast. Add flour to make a soft batter. Stir in the raisins and mix thoroughly with wooden spoon. Put in a warm place to rise until almost double. Heat lard/shortening (a deep fryer is the safest method) until hot and drop tablespoonsful of dough in. Do not break sponge bubbles. Fry quickly, turning once, until golden and remove with slotted spoon to drain in colander. Serve with a dusting of icing/confectioner's sugar.

Apple Fritters

Mom would make these and fry them in the same fat as the Portzelky, using the fat more efficiently. 

• 1 c flour
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp white sugar
• 1/2 c milk
• 1 1/2 to 2 c peeled, cored and chopped apples

Sift the dry ingredients together. Add eggs and milk and beat well (using mixer if desired). Pare, core and dice apples, adding to the batter and mixing well. Drop by spoonfuls into deep hot fat (as above). Fry until golden brown and dust with white or confectioner's sugar.

Beignets (Fried Dough) from the French Quarter

These are a New Orleans staple: a light, tasty variation on fried dough. Delicious!

Beignets

From Port Orleans French Quarter Food Court

Ingredients

• 1 pk Dry yeast
• 1/2 C Sugar
• 2 lg. Eggs
• 7 C Flour
• 1 1/2C Warm water
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 C Undiluted evaporated milk
• 1/4 C Soft shortening
• Oil; for frying
• Confectioner's sugar

Directions

1. In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over water, stir to dissolve.
2. Add sugar, salt, eggs, and milk. Blend with rotary beater.
3. Add 4 cups of the flour, beat with a wooden spoon until smooth and thoroughly blended. 
4. Beat in the shortening, then add the remaining flour, about 1/3 cup at a time, beating it in with a spoon until it becomes too stiff to stir, then working in the rest with your hands.
5. Cover and chill overnight. 
6. Roll out on floured board to 1/8" thickness. Cut into 2 1/2" squares. 
7. Deep fry at 360 degrees 2-3 minutes or until lightly browned on both sides. 
8. Drain on paper towels. Sprinkle heavily with confectioner's sugar.

Makes about 5 dozen.

Austrian Sliced Apple Fritters

Here is an Austrian dish which has been passed on to many farm families in Manitoba. It was one of my mom's favorites, minus any brandy or extras. She simply sliced the apples (she cut them in chunks), let them sit in cold lemon water until ready to use, dunked them in the breading mixture, fried until golden brown in deep, hot oil and served with powdered sugar after draining on paper towel. A delicious treat!

Here is what appears to be the original recipe from an old cookbook. It is followed by a recipe for basic crepe batter and fritter batter.

Sliced Apple Fritters

Ingredients

• 6 Medium Tart Apples — cut into 1/4″ slices
• 3 Tablespoons Dark Rum (my auntie used rum extract - 1 tbsp mixed with water)
• Juice from one lemon
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/2 Cup Oil — for frying
• 1 Recipe Crepe Batter
• Powdered Sugar

Directions 
Marinate apples in bowl with rum, lemon juice, 3 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon for 10 minutes. Preheat oil in pan to 360 degrees. Draw the apples through the batter and shake off excess. Fry until golden. Drain on the paper towels and serve with a sprinkle of powdered sugar.


BASIC CREPE BATTER

2 eggs
1 1/4 c. (300 ml) milk
1 c. plain flour

2 tbsp white sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. melted butter or vegetable oil

1. Beat together the eggs and milk with a whisk or in an electric blender.2. Sift the flour with the salt and add to the egg and milk mixture.
3. Add the melted butter or vegetable oil and blend thoroughly.
4. If beating by hand, if desired, strain the mixture through a sieve to remove any lumps.
5. Allow the mixture to stand for at least an hour before using. If the batter is too thick, add a little milk and mix.

BASIC FRITTER BATTER
Good for use with banana and apple fritters. You can cut the fruit into small chunks and place in the batter to make fritters or simply follow the first directions as given.
2 c. milk
3 eggs
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp white sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. flour

Use directions (above)

Home-Made Cake Donuts (or Doughnuts, if you must) Fresh From the Kitchen

I had fun this morning. Ok - for me this is fun. I created my own cake donut recipe by adapting a variety of ingredients in about 4 recipes that I liked and experimenting in the kitchen. Let's just say that they are amazing, and I don't often say that of my own baking! Here's Sharon's recipe for great (relatively simple) donuts. Please read the entire recipe before creating your delicious treats - it's good to be prepared, especially when working with hot oil.


Home-Made Cake Donuts (and donut holes)

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 c sour cream mixed with 1/4 c milk OR 1 c sour milk (just add 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar to 1 c milk to make sour milk or use buttermilk)
• 1/4 c (1/2 stick) melted margarine or butter
• 1 c white granulated sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• approx. 4 c. flour
• sugar mixed with cinnamon for sprinkling or dipping later
• about 2 to 3 c canola or Crisco oil (for frying)

To Make These

1. Mix together the eggs, sour cream/milk and melted butter or margarine. Add white sugar and mix with wooden spoon until creamy. Add dry ingredients - cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, salt and 3 c of the flour. Mix with spoon and see if it's stiff enough to handle with your hands. Add another cup of flour if needed. NOTE: Donut dough remains soft, so don't add too much flour, just enough for handling and rolling purposes.The flour on the work surface will coat the donut and  make it nice and crispy on the outside and soft and yummy on the inside.
2. Mix with your hands until it sticks together to make a soft dough and then turn onto well-floured surface to knead for a couple of minutes. I usually put down some waxed paper so the surface doesn't get as messed up. Fold and press the dough to mix in the last of the flour, mixing it with some of the flour on the surface until you can roll it out. This dough stays very soft, but shouldn't be sticky. Flour your rolling pin and press gently on the soft dough, just enough to get it to about 1/4 to 1/2 inch in thickness. You can pat the dough down if you don't have a rolling pin.
3. I used a large glass (for the donut) and shot glass (for the holes) to make my donuts. I don't have a doughnut cutter anymore. If you do, lucky you! Dip these in flour and then first cut the donuts, then carefully cut the holes in the middle (more or less, these are home-made!)
4. Pour enough oil into a HEAVY deep frying pan (or fryer) to cover the bottom by a couple of inches. You don't need to totally immerse the donuts, as you will flip them once. Heat the oil until a cube of bread browns within 60 seconds of being tossed into the hot oil or follow your deep fryer instructions. BE CAREFUL!
5. If you put enough flour on the surface, you won't have trouble removing the soft donuts from the work area. You can use a spatula or scraper to do this so they don't tear. If you have trouble, more donut holes for you! I had lots of donut holes :)
6. Gently place the donuts and holes in the hot oil, about 4 donuts and 4 holes at a time if you have a large pan, and let them brown on one side to a nice golden color, then flip over to brown on the other side. This shouldn't take more than a minute or 2 per pan. When done, remove with a slotted spoon and place on paper towel in a colander, then remove to a towel spread on the counter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar while still warm. You can do that while rest of the donuts are cooking. If your cut out donuts fall apart, roll dough in floured hands before placing in oil and use as donut holes. Still good.
7. Let cool slightly (yes, I know this is the hardest part) and enjoy! If your donuts get too brown, it means your oil is old and you may have to pour it out and start again with fresh oil. I managed to make it through with only one pan of oil. It took about half a bottle of canola oil to do it. 

Cooking Note: This is the first time I had such good success with donuts. I think it was the sour cream (which really added fluffiness), using a bit of ginger and cinnamon in the batter and putting enough flour on the board. Adapting the recipes really helped too. I also let the oil heat up enough - watching it carefully so it didn't overheat. I had to put 3 bread cubes in before it finally got to the right temperature. Once you start frying, you have to do it quite quickly - one batch in, then out, then the next batch in, so get the colander ready, layered with paper towel, and have the towel on the surface to take the drained donuts out before the next batch goes in. It took me about 3/4 hour in total for making the batter and doing the frying. I made a lot of donut holes :) Pretty quick work. I like cinnamon sugar, some folks prefer a confection sugar and water glaze. Whatever floats your boat!

ALWAYS RESPECT HOT OIL! It hurts! Use a splatter-guard if you have one and supervise children very closely when making this dish.