These are all the rage at fairs and festivals. This recipe uses Mounds bars, however feel free to experiment with other candy bars. It is best to have the candy bars frozen before frying. This helps the bars keep their shape and not melt through the batter when they are fried.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- Approximately 2 quarts sunflower or other oil for deep frying
- 1 ripe pineapple
- 1 cup self-rising flour
- About 1 cup soda water
- 8 fun-sized Mounds bars (see Note below)
Preparation:
Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to maximum heat.
Cut the top and bottom off the pineapple, and then quarter it vertically. Trim the woody core off each segment, and then lay it skin-side down, and slice the flesh in half lengthwise, stopping when you feel the skin. Then cut it across into slices and run the knife between the flesh of the fruit and the outer husk. The pineapple pieces should then come away easily. Squeeze the outer skin of the pineapple over the cut fruit to get every last bit of juice.
Measure the flour into a bowl, and whisk in 3/4 cup of the soda water to make the batter, adding the rest of the water if the consistency is still too thick: you want this just thick enough to adhere easily. The best way to check is to turn a Mounds bar in it: if the batter sticks well enough, it's fine. I just use my fingers for this, but tongs work well, too.
Plunge the batter-blanketed Mounds in the hot oil and fry for about 3 minutes until the batter's puffed and golden. Remove to pieces of paper towel to absorb excess grease, then pile up on a plate to sit on the table alongside the cut-up pineapple.
Author's notes: The pineapple cuts across the sticky sweetness of the fritters and turns it into a dessert rather than a funny turn. As for the batter, the combination of self-rising flour and soda water produces the lightest effect possible. Also try substituting Cadbury's Creme Eggs (for Easter) and Dime Bars.
Yield: 4 to 8 servings
Recipe Source: Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson (Hyperion)
Reprinted with permission.
Cut the top and bottom off the pineapple, and then quarter it vertically. Trim the woody core off each segment, and then lay it skin-side down, and slice the flesh in half lengthwise, stopping when you feel the skin. Then cut it across into slices and run the knife between the flesh of the fruit and the outer husk. The pineapple pieces should then come away easily. Squeeze the outer skin of the pineapple over the cut fruit to get every last bit of juice.
Measure the flour into a bowl, and whisk in 3/4 cup of the soda water to make the batter, adding the rest of the water if the consistency is still too thick: you want this just thick enough to adhere easily. The best way to check is to turn a Mounds bar in it: if the batter sticks well enough, it's fine. I just use my fingers for this, but tongs work well, too.
Plunge the batter-blanketed Mounds in the hot oil and fry for about 3 minutes until the batter's puffed and golden. Remove to pieces of paper towel to absorb excess grease, then pile up on a plate to sit on the table alongside the cut-up pineapple.
Author's notes: The pineapple cuts across the sticky sweetness of the fritters and turns it into a dessert rather than a funny turn. As for the batter, the combination of self-rising flour and soda water produces the lightest effect possible. Also try substituting Cadbury's Creme Eggs (for Easter) and Dime Bars.
Yield: 4 to 8 servings
Recipe Source: Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson (Hyperion)
Reprinted with permission.
