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Once fried, they are dusted with cinnamon sugar and eaten deliciously warm!
What is the best apple to use?
The secret is using a tart apple like Granny Smith is ideal for these fritters, otherwise, the smaller varieties Pink Lady and Honeycrisp also work well in apple fritters.
How to cut apple rings:
After peeling the apple, an apple corer will make the job of removing the centre core of the apple a lot easier than say using a small knife, which would not do a perfect job anyway.
Prepare the apples just before frying as the apples will turn brown and mushy if cut too early and soaking them in lemon water will soften them further. We are after crisp apples when dipped in the fritter batter. They are also a lot easier to handle when cut at this late stage.
Some info on the cooking oil:
In general, vegetable and peanut oil are the preferred deep-frying oil as they have a somewhat neutral flavour and tolerate high temperatures. Sunflower oil is my best choice and has a slightly nuttier stronger flavour which is perfect when frying fritters.
The temperature of the oil is essential for a perfect, crisp batter. Usually, anything between 180°C/350°F and 190°C/375°F is good but if you don’t have a thermometer, head for your wooden spoon: Place a wooden spoon handle into the oil and when the oil bubbles energetically around the handle, the oil is ready! Alternatively, drop some batter into the oil and if it turns golden within 30 seconds, you can start frying.
Remember that as the fritters are added to the oil, the temperature will go down slightly. It takes a few trials and errors to perfect that temperature on your stove, so be ready to be hovering between medium-high to high heat while frying these fritters.
Food for thought:
If the oil is TOO HOT – the fritters will burn before they cook on the inside. TOO COLD, and the fritters with absorb the oil and turn them into a soggy disaster!
What type of pan should I use to fry?
My preference is to deep-fry food in a small deep-sided pan in small batches. Although it takes slightly longer to cook overall compared to using a large frying pan, I end up using less oil. As these fritters take 2 minutes to fry, cooking them in pairs gives perfect results in under 30 minutes overall. Always remember the first fritter or fried item is the worst one. Just like in pancakes – the first one is the dud!
What makes these fritters crispy?
Besides the perfect frying temperature, the addition of rice flour, cornflour and baking powder all help the batter to rise and give a crisp and airy texture, perfect for fritters!
Once the fritters have gone down to room temperature, the batter will feel spongy and soft so the best way to reheat them is to crisp them up in a low oven or in an air fryer. This will bring back their crispy texture again.
Making the batter ahead of time:
This gluten-free fritter batter does not need to be rested but it doesn’t hurt if the batter is made ahead of time, although only add the whisked egg white to the batter just before frying the fritters, to keep as much volume in the batter active as possible.
Gluten-Free Apple Fritters with Cinnamon Sugar
Ingredients
Gluten-Free Apple Fritters
- 3 apples, Granny Smith, Pink Lady or Honeycrisp
- 55 g rice flour
- 45 g cornflour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch cinnamon powder
- 1 pinch nutmeg powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 egg separated
- 1½ tbsp butter melted
- 80 ml sparkling water or soda water
- Vegetable, peanut or sunflower oil for deep-frying
Cinnamon Sugar
- 3 tbsp icing sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
Instructions
Gluten-Free Apple Fritters
- Combine the flours, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together in a medium bowl.
- Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add the egg yolk, melted butter and sparkling water or soda water.
- Whisk the centre gradually into the flour until it becomes a smooth batter.
- In a clean, dry glass or ceramic bowl, whisk the egg white until stiff peaks form, then add this to the batter, folding in gently.
- Peel the apples and remove the core with an apple corer.
- Slice the apple into ½ cm thick rings as shown in the photo.
- In a deep-sided frying pan, fill it up to 3 cm high with oil and heat on medium-high. The oil is ready when a drop of batter browns in 30 secs.
- Dip the apples into the batter and allow some of the excess batter to drip off.
- Slowly lower the apple slices into the hot oil in small batches and fry the first side for 1 min before flipping them over.
- Fry for another minute or until golden and crisp.
- Stack the fritters sideways on paper towels to remove excess oil.
- If making a large portion of apple fritters, turn the oven to low and keep the apple fritters warm while frying the remaining fritters.
Cinnamon Sugar
- Sieve the icing sugar and cinnamon powder into a bowl.
- Combine them well and use a sieve to sprinkle the mixture over the warm apple fritters just before serving.
- Please note that the icing sugar will be absorbed if sprinkled immediately after frying. Once the fritter has cooled down to an edible temperature, sprinkle at this point.
Notes
- Best eaten the same day as made
- Not recommended to freeze
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