So this weekend was full of house cleaning and laundry, and now I want to do something for myself and that something is absolutely decadent and delectable. Fried Strawberries. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Like a spring day at the fair, the smell of batter and powdered sugar in the air and the sweet taste of fresh strawberries.
Fried Strawberries
Ingredients
Oil for frying
1 pint of strawberries 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup white wine or white grape juice
1 Tbsp vegetable oil of your choice (not olive oil)
Powdered sugar
Nutella for Dipping
Directions
Mix the batter: Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, then in a separate bowl, (I have a couple of metal mixing bowls with lids I like to use for batter) whisk together the egg, wine or juice and oil until well blended. Whisk that into the dry ingredients until thoroughly blended; the batter will be fairly thick and not runny.
Dip the berries into the batter and swirl to cover thoroughly. I tried this several different ways, I did find that tongs left holes in the batter, but the extendable forks used for roasting marshmallows worked really well.
I do not have a deep fryer for this exercise so I used my handy deep bottomed frying pan (stainless steel).
Pour about three inches of oil into the pan of your choice, and heat gradually to 300-350 degrees. A candy thermometer, the sort that clips to the side of the pan, comes in handy here. High heat is necessary to quick-seal the surface of the batter, which is what keeps it from absorbing too much grease.
Put a cooling rack on a cookie sheet in order to drain the oil from the berries after frying, or lay them on several layers of paper towels.
Transfer a few battered berries at a time to the hot oil and fry for about 60 seconds, turning once to brown evenly. As soon as the batter begins to brown, remove the berries from the oil and place on rack to drain off excess oil. Once all the berries are cooked and drained, roll in powdered sugar. For extra indulgence, place a little bowl of nutella or whip cream with honey until soft peaks form, and serve as a dip for the berries, a very decadent fondue.
These are best eaten still warm, the juices from the strawberries will run down your chin. A pint ought to feed 3-4 people, but I think I think my husband and I will finish them off.
fluttersome 