Made a Dutch classic New Year´s treat, deep fried dough balls, filled with raisins and apple. They´re called “oliebollen”. So far I had used my starter only for recipes using water; this was the first recipe with milk, butter and egg. The dough started out really slow and I was getting a bit worried. After 6 hours I decided to put the dough in the microwave with a bowl of boiling water beside it. That got it going alright. All in all it took about 10 hours of fermentation for it to double in size.
Although I made them myself, I have to say that these are the most tasty oliebollen I´ve ever eaten Good structure, very tender, nice crispy bite.
They were, haha! Thanks Yeah, so is mine; I just used a simple frying pan and baked two or three at a time, that keeps the oil temperature pretty constant as well. You could use the bread pan/casserole/dutch oven on the stove too ofc, if you have one. I bake them at 180°C for a round 3 minutes per side, using sunflower oil. When you tip touch them halfway, they turn over to the unbaked side by themselves.
Next time I´ll buy an ice scream scoop for a bit more uniformity and a more round shape. Now I used two (wet) spoons. They look kinda rustic now though.
As with the sourdough bread, they tasted very nice today (after having baked them last night). Lost some crunch ofc, but the taste had developed even more and they were still very tender.
Next time I´ll also add in the salt at a later stage, when I turn the dough (spatula). Thinking back, maybe the salt - although not much used - also slowed down its initial rise
Charles, those look fantastic! I don’t do any deep frying, but these look like they would be worth the effort (and the calories!) They remind me of abelskivers which, if you don’t know them, are a Scandinavian non-yeasted fritter made in a special skillet with half moon depressions. Thanks for sharing these.
Assuming a healthy diet and some daily exercise/cardio, caloriewise they´re not too bad actually A tbsp of butter and a liter of whole milk (ok and a egg yolk) is all the fat in there. All the carbs are from the raisins and flour (and it´s not much flour since they are really airy).
When frying, the trick is to use oil that is hot enough, which seals the dough ball. That prevents it becoming a kind of sponge. Also not to bake too many at once, that would cause the oil temerature to drop too much.
I didn´t know of abelskivers; those look delicious too! We´ve got a simular treat here in The Netherlands called Poffertjes, made in a (cast iron) skillet just like it.
Thanks for the tips. I’ve heard of Poffertjes, but never eaten or made them. I’ll have to find a recipe and try them in the abelskiver pan for a change.
Batter:
400 gr pattiserie flour
380 gr whole milk
40 gr starter
5 gr sugar
15 gr butter
1 egg
5 gr salt
Filling:
zest of 1 lemon
150 gr raisins
1 apple diced small
good quality oil to fry in
Soak the raisins overnight. Make smooth batter. It should get shiny and you must see the gluten development. Mix in the filling gently with a wooden/rubber spatula. Then it takes about 8 to 10 hours to ferment. I fold it back carefully using a spatula 2 or 3 times during this. It should more than double in volume and look all bubbly, quite like an active starter.
Heat the oil to 180°C and put two spoons (or an ice scream scoop) in a bowl of water. Take a scoop from the batter. You can “cut” the dough a bit by pushing your filled scoop against the side of the bowl. Release the ball carefully just above the oil (Don´t get your spoons too wet btw; water and hot oil is not a good combination. It´s just to prevent the dough from sticking to the spoon/scoop).
Good structure, very tender, nice crispy bite.
A tbsp of butter and a liter of whole milk (ok and a egg yolk) is all the fat in there. All the carbs are from the raisins and flour (and it´s not much flour since they are really airy).