Every since I posted a picture of a Funnel Cake Mr. Fantabulous had at a local amusement park, I’ve been getting blasted with requests for my recipe for these and also, what they are. Apparently they are more of a United States type of dish. All a funnel cake is is a cake made of a thick pancake-like batter that is poured through a funnel into hot fat or oil, deep-fried until crisp, and served sprinkled with sugar and assorted toppings.
Now I’m not going to B.S. you on this dish.. these are FATTENING because they are deep fried. Yes you can bake them BUT you need to use more of a pâte à choux dough that puffs when you bake it. It’s kinda-sorta-but-not-really like a funnel cake.
You need to deep fry these and cover them in confectioners’ sugar. The rest of the toppings is totally up to you. Mr. Fantabulous is a confectioners’ sugar only kinda guy. Me – yeah, I’m not a big fan of these but then again I’m that girl that doesn’t like doughnuts, pancakes, waffles and so forth. Weird I know. I mean I’ll have a bite or two but that’s it. I’ve seen these topped with ice cream, strawberry sauce, pineapple, hot fudge and whipped cream. It’s UNREAL how much people pack on these!
How do you like yours?
These couldn’t be more easier to make! Now you can use a deep frier but since I rarely make fried foods, I don’t own one; no need to. I broke out my trust cast iron pan and used that puppy.
The end result was perfect as you can see!
These take only a minute or two to fry up and I think less time to inhale – well that is if you’re Mr. Fantabulous *wink*! LOL
Ultimate Carnival Funnel Cakes
Find more fantabulous recipes, tips and tricks at www.thekitchenwhisperer.net. Also, join our TKW Family on Facebook
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Self-Rising Flour (or AP Flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder *only use if using AP flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 1/3 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste (or 1 whole vanilla bean, split and seeded)
- 1 egg
- Canola oil
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Assorted toppings
- Pineapple Ice Cream Topping
- Strawberry Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Topping
- Hot Fudge
- Ice Cream
- Whipped Cream
Instructions
- Fill a 8” cast iron skillet with ½” of oil.
- Heat to 350F (use a heat safe thermometer).
- Sift the flour, salt and sugar into a large container that you can easily pour from.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg, milk and vanilla bean paste
- Whisk together the wet into the dry mixture.
- Using a funnel, pour batter into a squeeze bottle with a large opening. The batter is thick so this will take a little bit of time. Also, cut the opening of the bottle (where the batter comes out of so the whole is 1/4” round. You want decent sized hole.
- In a large pan, pour in your favorite frying oil until it is about 1/2 inch deep, and heat to 350F (I used peanut oil).
- Squeeze batter into the hot swirling it outward in a circular motion, or criss-cross back and forth to make a cake about 6” inches round. Don’t over fill as this will puff up.
- Cook for 30 seconds to a minute or until the bottom becomes golden brown.
- Using metal tongs, flip and cook the other side for 30 seconds to a minute or until a nice light golden brown. These cook very quickly so be careful not to burn.
- Once golden brown, remove from pan and place onto brown paper bags to let the excess oil drain. Brown paper bags absorb the excess oil.
- Let sit for 30 seconds or until the oil is absorbed and immediately top with confectioners’ sugar and any additional toppings!
Leave a Reply