Apple Fritter Rings Istrian Recipe

This is a simple and rustic sweet treat, yet very much loved apple dessert, and it is as popular with adults as it is with children, who seem never to get enough of it!

Apple fritter rings are incredibly easy and simple to make, apple slices are dipped into a type of pancake batter and then shallow fried to golden brown.

Apple fritters for me are a reminder of my childhood, and I am quite nostalgic about them, they take me right down the proverbial memory lane, and represent a quintessentially autumn dessert. My maternal grandmother would make these fritters on a regular basis, made from the apples grown in the family orchard.

Battered apple ring fritters have been very popular in Slovenian Istra where I come from, which was once part of the Habsburg Monarchy with Maria Theresa being its supreme ruler, and this is her recipe for apple fritters.

Take two eggs and a little wine. Make a batter. Cut the apples in cubes. Put in the batter. Let lard heat in a pan. In it pour your apples. Fry and turn them. Lift out and serve strewn with sugar.

(Maria Theresia Voigtin, 1724)

Rosl Philpot, Viennese Cookery, Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., London, 1965.

Whether you are using my family recipe or Maria Theresa's one, make this delicious apple based sweet treat, it is just a pure perfection in its simplicity.

Recipe

Ingredients

  • 500-600g roughly apples (any apples you like, but they need to be firm and be able to hold the shape when cut into rings)

  • 1 egg

  • 100ml milk

  • 2 Tsp sugar (10g)

  • 100g plain white flour

  • pinch of sea salt

  • ground cinnamon, to taste optional (added to the batter)

  • icing sugar or vanilla icing sugar for dusting

  • vegetable oil for frying

Method

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg, add a pinch of sea salt and sugar.

Pour in the milk and whisk together.

Slowly start adding the flour, bit by bit, and whisk well until you obtain a smooth batter with no lumps. Add ground cinnamon, if using, and whisk well.

Leave the mixture to rest for about 30 minutes, it will thicken a bit.

While the batter is resting, prepare the apples.

Wash, peel, core and slice the apples into rounds. (if you do not have the apple corer, you can remove the centre from the apple ring with a small round cookie cutter or just use the knife to cut out the centre core).

Add roughly 1cm of frying oil in a pan.

Heat the oil to 170C (use food thermometer if you have one).

Dip each slice in the batter and shake off any excess, then carefully lower the slices into the oil and fry on both sides until golden brown in colour.

Transfer onto a large plate or a dish previously lined with the kitchen paper to allow excess oil to absorb.

Dust with icing sugar.

Enjoy hot or at room temperature.