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Viennese Fritters
Created by Chef Juliette
Beignets viennois prove that richness needs structure: a buttery, yeasted paste kept firm enough for the rolling pin, then fried until bronze outside and tender within.
Beignets viennois (Viennese fritters) teach one true thing before the flour meets the bowl: richness needs structure. Their paste follows the method for Ordinary Brioche Paste (No. 2368), but its firmer balance is deliberate. A slack brioche may rise beautifully in a mould; beneath a rolling pin it clings, smears, and drinks frying fat.
The entry assumes a pastry cook's board, fresh yeast, a full pound of flour, and a temperate workroom where someone can tend the paste through its long fermentation. Here the formula is halved exactly, producing twelve generous fritters, and a dough hook takes over the strenuous pulling. The full batch and constant tending are scaffolding. The firm proportions and two-stage fermentation are the dish, so they stay. Make the paste ahead, then one cook, one stove, one evening takes it from cold dough to the platter.
When the beignets are right, they swell in the oil, bronze evenly, and open to a fine buttery crumb with no greasy seam. The one step that decides them is the paste's firmness before rolling. If it slumps, chill it; don't smother it in flour. Ça se rattrape.
Ingredients
firmer Viennese fritter paste
Quantity
1 home-scale batch Ordinary Brioche Paste (No. 2368), mixed with 1¾ cups plus 1 tablespoon (227 g) all-purpose flour; 6 tablespoons (90 ml / 85 g) unsalted butter; ¼ ounce (7 g) fresh compressed yeast or ¾ teaspoon (3.75 ml / 2.3 g) instant yeast; ½ cup plus 1 teaspoon (125 ml / 125 g) beaten egg, about 2½ large eggs; 1¼ teaspoons (6 ml / 7 g) fine salt; 2¼ teaspoons (11 ml / 9.5 g) granulated sugar; 3 tablespoons plus ½ teaspoon (47 ml / 48 g) whole milk; and up to 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) tepid water for the leaven
refined peanut or sunflower oil
Quantity
6 cups (1.4 litres / about 1.3 kg)
for frying
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| firmer Viennese fritter paste | 1 home-scale batch Ordinary Brioche Paste (No. 2368), mixed with 1¾ cups plus 1 tablespoon (227 g) all-purpose flour; 6 tablespoons (90 ml / 85 g) unsalted butter; ¼ ounce (7 g) fresh compressed yeast or ¾ teaspoon (3.75 ml / 2.3 g) instant yeast; ½ cup plus 1 teaspoon (125 ml / 125 g) beaten egg, about 2½ large eggs; 1¼ teaspoons (6 ml / 7 g) fine salt; 2¼ teaspoons (11 ml / 9.5 g) granulated sugar; 3 tablespoons plus ½ teaspoon (47 ml / 48 g) whole milk; and up to 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 15 g) tepid water for the leaven |
| refined peanut or sunflower oilfor frying | 6 cups (1.4 litres / about 1.3 kg) |
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