Fritters “à la Grand-mère”

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •20 cm (8-inch) square shallow metal tray
• •Wide saucepan for reducing the fruit
• •Heavy 4 L deep saucepan with a fitted lid
• •Deep-frying thermometer
• •Wire rack and two rimmed trays
• •Long-handled wire skimmer
• •Small offset spatula or bench scraper

Instructions

1. 1

   Reduce the fruit

   Put the stewed fruit in a wide saucepan and cook it over medium-low heat, scraping the bottom and sides often with a flexible spatula. Reduce it from 3 cups to about 2 cups, 25 to 35 minutes depending on the fruit. It is ready when a spatula drawn across the pan leaves a path open for several seconds and a spoonful stands in a mound instead of spreading. If the fruit sputters, lower the heat and continue; haste scorches the sugar before the water can leave. If it catches, transfer the clean fruit above the darkened layer to another pan without scraping the bottom, then finish the reduction there.

2. 2

   Set the fruit

   Moisten a 20 cm square shallow metal tray with the cold water, then tip out any puddle so only a fine film remains. Spread the reduced fruit into an even layer ½ inch (1.25 cm) thick, pressing it firmly into the corners and smoothing the top. Let it cool for 20 minutes, then refrigerate uncovered for at least 4 hours, or overnight, until completely cold and firm. Water, not oil, is faithful here: it helps release the fruit without putting a greasy layer beneath the batter.

3. 3

   Cut clean shapes

   Moisten a thin knife or bench scraper and cut the fruit slab into 16 squares, rectangles, or diamonds, wiping and wetting the blade between cuts. Lift each piece with a small offset spatula and return the pieces to the cold while you prepare the frying station. If the edges slump, the fruit is too warm or still contains too much water. Chill it for 20 minutes; if it remains soft, scrape everything back into the saucepan, reduce it for another 5 to 10 minutes, then spread and chill it again. Ça se rattrape.

   Fancy shapes are permitted, but broad pieces are easier to coat and turn. A 5 cm square gives a generous fruit center without becoming fragile.
4. 4

   Heat the frying fat

   Set a wire rack over a rimmed tray, and place a second clean, broiler-safe tray nearby. Position an oven rack about 15 cm below the broiler and heat the broiler to high. Pour the frying fat into a heavy 4 L saucepan, filling it no more than halfway, and heat it to 175 to 180°C (350 to 355°F). Keep the temperature in that range: cooler fat makes a heavy coating, while overheated fat colors the batter before the fruit center warms. Keep a fitted lid nearby and never leave hot fat unattended.

   Dry the thermometer and every utensil before they approach the pan. Water and hot frying fat are a quarrelsome pair.
5. 5

   Batter and fry

   Pour the finished Batter for Oven-glazed Fruit Fritters (No. 234) into a deep bowl. Lower one cold fruit piece into it, turn to cover every surface, and let the excess fall back into the bowl before sliding the piece carefully into the hot fat. Fry 3 or 4 at a time, turning once, until evenly deep gold, about 2 to 3 minutes. Let the fat recover its temperature between batches. If the coating slips away, stop and chill the remaining fruit again, blot away any beads of surface moisture, and resume with one test piece. Lift each finished fritter to the rack for 20 seconds, transfer it to the clean broiler tray, and immediately sift icing sugar generously over the top.

6. 6

   Glaze under fierce heat

   Once all the fritters are fried, turn off the heat beneath the fat and move the covered pan to a cool rear burner. Set the sugared fritters beneath the broiler for 15 to 30 seconds, watching without interruption, until the icing sugar melts into a translucent, glassy coat with a few pale caramel spots. This fierce heat is the home equivalent of the book’s service oven. If the glaze looks patchy, pull the tray out, sift a little more sugar over the bare places, and return it for 5 to 10 seconds. Sugar moves quickly from glazed to burnt, so the cook stays beside it.

7. 7

   Serve at once

   Let the fritters stand for 3 to 5 minutes, just long enough for the sugar glaze to set and the fruit center to stop being dangerously hot. Pile them generously on a platter and serve warm. The coating should give lightly under the teeth before the soft fruit center appears. Cooking well is not cooking fancy. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Apple and pear set most readily because their natural pectin gives the reduced fruit body. Apricot and plum make splendid fritters too, but they carry more free moisture and usually need a longer reduction.
• •Good canned fruit is an honest choice outside its season. Drain it thoroughly, stew it until tender, and then begin the measured reduction; syrupy fruit may require little additional sweetness because the final glaze supplies plenty.
• •Make the Batter for Oven-glazed Fruit Fritters (No. 234) as its own preparation. Its fermentation belongs to the fritter and is not brigade scaffolding, so use it finished rather than replacing it with an improvised quick batter.
• •Plenty of hot fat is literal. The fritters need room to float without touching, and the temperature must recover between batches. Crowding saves no time because the batter only drinks fat while it waits for the pan to heat again.
• •Once the frying fat is completely cold, strain it through a fine sieve into a clean container. If it smells fresh and contains no burnt sugar, it can be kept cold and used again for another sweet fry.

Advance Preparation

• •Reduce, spread, and chill the fruit slab up to 2 days ahead. Once firm, cover it closely and keep it cold; cut the shapes shortly before frying so their edges remain neat.
• •Have the Batter for Oven-glazed Fruit Fritters (No. 234) finished according to its own entry before heating the frying fat. Its preparation time is separate from the fruit’s chilling time.
• •Do not fry the beignets ahead. The fruit and batter wait happily as separate components, but the glazed coating is at its best within minutes of leaving the broiler.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)