Crullers

Better than doughnuts! These are crisp on the outside and, on the inside, eggy-custardy with little pockets that are as light-as-air.

Crullers: berry glaze, cinnamon sugar, and bite-size chouquette with pearl sugar (made with the same dough as crullers; vintage county fair posters

I was at a small county fair in Oregon a few years ago, and my main memory of it was wishing I could have the fair food—the corn dogs, funnel cakes, churros, and fried dough, arguably the best thing about a county fair. Being gluten-free meant I was left with ice cream, corn on the cob, and cotton candy—at best, a hot dog or burger eaten out of a wilting wrapper without the bun to catch the juices and hold the fixings.

Being gluten-free means you have to skip some of the best food, but you have memories of the “before-times,” when you ate all of the delicious things before a celiac or intolerance diagnosis.

The crullers of county fairs actually come to us like many desserts—via Europe. The word itself comes from the Dutch word krullen, and the dough is found piped and fried in different shapes all over Scandinavia, Germany, and throughout Europe.

I’ve been working on these crullers to satisfy my fair-food craving for awhile and recently cracked it. Previously they fried up well, but then would collapse and lose their structure. I’ve only used this dough in the recipes you see here (next to try is fried apple slices and a modified mixture for eclairs). It’s certainly elevated from fair food, but in the end, it’s basically the same batter.

They also couldn’t be easier to make—I like them better than doughnuts (sooo light and airy) and they are made in a fraction of the time (no rising or cutting), and, a big plus, is you have a perfect pâte à choux to make chouquettes and gougères.

RECIPE

Yields 16 - 18 crullers, depending on size

•100g / 7 Tbs butter

•240ml / 1 C water (or 3/4 water, 1/4 milk)

•1/2 tsp kosher salt

•1 Tbs sugar

•150g / 1 C + 5 tsp gf flour

•4 large eggs, broken into a cup

Bring the butter, water (or water/milk), salt and sugar to a boil in medium pot. Dump in flour all at once and stir over medium heat until it forms a cohesive dough and pulls away from the bottom of the pot. Cook for another minute, pushing the dough against the bottom and stirring/scraping. If you aren’t using non-stick, there should be a slight film of dough that develops on the bottom of the pot.

Use a stand or handheld mixer: Transfer the flour mixture to the bowl of the mixer and, starting on low, mix in one egg. Beat until incorporated. Add the rest of the eggs one at a time in the same manner, increasing speed to medium/high. It will seem like it won’t come together, but keep beating and it will.

Beat another minute after it’s all come together. The mixture should be very thick, and slowly drop from the beater. Chill.

Heat 1.5”-2” of oil in medium pot. If you are using a thermometer, heat it to 350º to 375º. Cut squares of parchment paper large enough for each doughnut. Transfer mixture to pastry bag. I use an Ateco 828 open star pastry tip. Pipe circles onto the squares of parchment. You can test the oil by piping an inch of dough into the pot; the oil should immediately bubble around the dough. It takes a couple minutes for the pastry to really expand.

Deep fry one at a time. Transfer one to the hot oil, placing it parchment side down. After a minute it will release from the paper; remove the paper and keep frying, flipping once or twice. Drain on a towel and cool on rack. After awhile you’ll have the hang of it and can fry a couple at a time.

Best eaten as soon as they are made.

Glaze
•3 Tbs berry purée - raspberries make the best puree, or add some blackberries or blueberries. You can leave the seeds or strain them. I prefer to strain out 90% of the seeds and leave some for contrast.

•120ml / 1/2 C confectioners’ sugar

•1/2 tsp lemon juice (optional)

Mix enough confectioners sugar into the purée to make a thick glaze. Start with the half cup and keep adding tablespoonfuls to desired consistency. Hard to give exact measurements for this, since it entirely depends on the amount of moisture in the berries you use.

See Chouquettes recipe to make individual rounds pictured above