These taste of fall and the holidays! My family loves to get them from our local bakery, but I thought, “I can do this” and set about trying. A few tips before you start…
Don’t make the fritters too large otherwise the center won’t be cooked through.
The recipe calls for baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
Now bicarbonate of soda balances out the acid in the fruit, but bear in mind that it reacts instantly with moisture, so once the dried ingredients come into contact with the beer or soda used in this recipe you need to get the mix into the hot oil within 20 minutes, so make sure everything is ready.
Wherever you keep these apple fritters, make sure to store them in an airtight container so they don’t dry out.
They will last for two days at room temperature, one week in the fridge, and 2-3 months in the freezer. If you freeze them, thaw them by leaving them at room temperature for a few hours until they’re soft.
Serve hot on their own with the caramel sauce or with vanilla ice cream – yum. You can serve with yoghurt, yoghurt ice-cream, or a non-dairy ice-cream.
You may wonder why the recipe calls for the apple to be cut in chunks instead of grating the apple. The reason is that keeping chunks of apple provides a beautiful taste contrast between the crispy outside, the light inner, and the softness of the apple.
With the sweetness of the caramel sauce oozing over the crispy fried apple fritters, these are something you will want to make again and again. For a family of six I halved this recipe – it made 12 small fritters allowing for per person, with a serving of ice cream. I also halved the caramel sauce ingredients.
Apple Fritters with Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 apples cored and cut into small chunks
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 12 oz. can beer (354milliliters) or soda water
- 1 cup coconut pure sunflower or canola oil for frying
Salted Caramel Sauce Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons butter if using salted butter reduce the added salt by ¼ of a teaspoon
- ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Begin by peeling, coring, and then cutting the apples into chunks and placing in a bowl.
- Add the sugar and spices to the apples and gently stir to coat.
- Place the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt into another bowl and create a “well” in the center.
- Pour the beer into the well, and mix to incorporate.
- Carefully add the apple chunks, coated in their spices, to the beer batter.
- Let the batter sit for a few minutes while the oil is heating.
- Gently spoon the batter into the hot oil (the amount of batter for each will be roughly one heaped tablespoon). The fritters will puff up. Fry for approximately 3 minutes on each side or until they are golden.
- Monitor that the temperature of the oil doesn’t get too high, or drop too low, to ensure even frying.
- Remove to paper towels to drain the oil.
Salted Caramel Sauce
- Melt the sugar over medium high heat in a large saucepan, stirring to make sure it doesn’t burn.
- Once the sugar is liquid add the butter. The mix will froth up (that’s why we use a large saucepan) so be careful and keep stirring until the butter has combined with the sugar.
- Bring the mix back to the boil for a couple of minutes then pour in the cream and stir, then bring back to the boil.
- Add the salt and stir as you wait for the mix to thicken – it should only take only about two minutes or so.
- If you like, these can be served with ice cream – it can be a yoghurt or non-dairy ice cream if you are concerned about reducing calories.
Notes
- The alcohol in the beer evaporates, but the flavor the beer imparts to the apples is wonderful. Substituting with soda water if you live in a non-alcoholic household is just fine too.
- This recipe made about 16 1/4 cup batter sized fritters, and my family devoured all of them easily. If you prefer you can make slightly smaller fritters to yield 24 fritters. This could easily become an autumn tradition when the apples are ready for picking, or thanks to root cellar storage almost at any time of the year.
What are some of your favorite apple recipes?
last update: September 30th 2021 by Jeanie Beales
Heather’s homesteading journey started in 2006, with baby steps: first, she got a few raised beds, some chickens, and rabbits. Over the years, she amassed a wealth of homesteading knowledge, knowledge that you can find in the articles of this blog.
I love apple dumplings but it’s been a long time since I’ve had them. Thanks for the link up. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
That sounds SOOOOO divine!!
OH man—apple fritters AND caramel sauce? You’re killin’ me, Heather! They look absolutely delicious! Scheduling a share on my page today!
Wow! That sounds so delicious 🙂
Those sound so good!
YUM!
YES! Apple fritters are my favorite and my dad’s favorite! Since he’s just getting out of the hospital I think I’ll make him up a batch. Nothing says get well like donuts!