http://deep-fried.food.com/recipe/gluten-free-funnel-cake-187546
Because I was rambling on facebook about how much I missed funnel cake, and my friend Josh the Unicorn (if you know him, you know who I'm talking about) and Miss Gunnar von Wunderly both highly recommended the post.
So I did it. And I LOVED it. Just incase I'm posting an unstable link, I'll extract the recipe text into the bottom of this post. So if the link was dead, don't dispair, just scroll down.
Yield, yes:
I did a half recipe, and it was great. It made 3.5 small funnel cakes, so I'd say the stated yield of 5-7 is about right.
Stores well, no:
I discovered that the made cakes do not keep well. I took one to my friend the next day and it was still alright, but that's about all I could say for it. Much better fresh.
The batter, however, keeps just fine, I'll show you how.
But the oil doesn't keep so well once used.
I gather this is, therefore, better as a food for a gathering.
Other tips:
I also used a full size pot instead of a skillet. Because: high walls offer mess reduction in the form of less splatter.
I also used half and half instead of the milk because the ratings section had a few people recommending to do that.
And I used the confectioners sugar as the sugar in the recipe as well as the dusting on top, because really, who needs a whole bag of confectioners sugar? Not me. I'm going to use it asap.
Using my sifter was super helpful. That's a good tip in the recipe, if you have one.
Flour recommendation:
This is deep fried, SO, you can use any flour designed to be directly substituted for white/wheat flour. Deep frying is, chemistry wise, a very forgiving process. Anything that doesn't require adjustments to milk or egg ratios, in use, will do the trick. I used some rather 'meh' tasting for-direct-subtitution flour from the co-op, generally this flour has been tasting like stale potatoes. This is the only recipe I tried with that flour that ended up really tasting good.
I'll add all these notes to my text extraction of the recipe below for easier reference. First, let's on to the review of my experience.
PICTURES!
(With captions and descriptions, no less.)
This is what half recipe will look like. None of my things are the right size. I'm sure you've been decieved by my 12 inch skillet making things look tiny. Well in this case, my blender is half-size. The spatula is regular size, at least. That's why I put it in there, so you'd have something normal size to go on.
Testing the oil heat with the spatula. This is one of those heat resistant silicone spatulas that can take up to 500 degrees and not melt.
Less than a minute did this to the batter residue on my spatula. Looks good.
Getting the batter into this bag without help was difficult. Pictures of the process were not possible. If you have the option of an assistant to hold the bag open for you, it's recommended. Doing this involved using the spatula, holding the bowl up, and holding the bag open all at once.
Batter funneled out. (Process of funnelling is shown in the super-short video below.)
Browning....
Ready to flip. (I forgot to take a picture of the flipped cake, it actually cooked the other side so fast that I thought I better just get it out of there before it burned.)
Ready!
If you have left over batter, double bag it and put it in the fridge. Keeps a few days. Make sure to let it get to room temperature completely before trying to cook with it! Cold batter in hot oil can splatter so much as to cause injury! So be careful!
AND VIDEO, no less!
Original recipe text in white. My notes in green...
Gluten Free Funnel Cake
By Pugs-N-Apps at food.com
Dry Ingredients Yes, do these first, that way you can reuse your measuring cups for the wet ingredients. That idea doesn't work so well the other way around.
1/4 cup sugar confectioners
2 cups gluten-free flour (Bob's Red Mills All Purpose Gluten Free Flour, Avail at Kroger & online) Any flour made for substitution
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder
1 teaspoon gluten-free xanthan gum (Bob's Red Mills) (or whatever brand)
Wet Ingredients
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk I used half and half
1/2 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract
What you will need for cooking
oil (for frying, canola or vegetable preferred) I used canola (which is the same thing as rape seed oil) and a large spaghetti pot. This required a full container of canola oil. Note that clean, new canola will not hardly smoke, whereas reused canola, or that which has been on the heat for a long time, smokes like crazy and burns hotter. Second day oil should be set on extra low, whereas first day oil should be on medium eat.
One of the below toppings
powdered sugar (which is the same thing as confectioners sugar)
cinnamon
strawberry
blueberries
Directions:
- On the stove start heating approx 2 inches of oil in a fry pan over medium heat. Again, I used a large spaghetti pot to reduce oil mess, and a full bottle of canola was required. Medium heat with the gas range was perfect for new oil, for used oil, very low heat was necessary.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and set aside in a sifter if you have one. Yes, dry ingredients first, as noted. Also, the sifter was a good idea, and was really helpful for putting the sugar on top after cooking.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the wet ingredients together until top is slightly frothy.
- Now sift or slowly add the dry ingredients you have set aside into the large mixing bowl with the wet ingredients, whisking continuously to avoid lumps.
- When all ingredients are combined into a smooth creamy mixture it is time to cook.
- Check your oil temperature, take a small drop of batter and drop it into the pan -- It should take just about 45-60 seconds to start browning on one side. Adjust the heat accordingly. I used my batter-covered high heat resistant silicone spatula for this test. Each cake took less than 5 minutes, which was nice and fast. The convenience of it being fast was pretty awesome.
- Use a wide tipped funnel (a kitchen type funnel would not work for this, the batter is too thick, definitely go for the ziplock suggestion instead) or ziplock bag with a corner snipped off (This size of this hole is really important. Too large and you'll have issues, smaller is better.) to drop strings of batter into the pan of hot oil to make whatever designs you wish. Cook until golden brown on both sides (I flipped it over with a slotted spoon half way through), remove from heat with metal spatula and place on a plate with wire strainer. Repeat until all the batter is gone.
- Let each cake sit for a moment on the wire rack (I used a few layers of papertowel on a plate, and I put the confectioners sugar on before it was cool), then move to a plate and finish with your favorite toppings.
