Earlier this year on a day that at the time seemed utterly normal, but now seems positively magical, friends came over for lunch. They were women I knew from school. The women I saw on the playground twice a day, warm and vivacious, forever welcoming. I wanted them to try Pakistani food, not the restaurant kind, but the kind we eat at home. On the menu was a Mixed Vegetable, Green Bean Sabzi, White Chicken Salan, Bhunna Gosht, Raita, & Matar Pulao. For dessert it was Kulfi served with these warm fritters. On that day I made the saffron version and they worked so beautifully with the cold kulfi. I usually don't like the idea of desserts that have to be made on the spot, but these Sweet Fritters were well worth it. They always are.
Now most of our kids will be participating in Distance Learning. There will be no more playground chats, no car pooling for dance class, no impromptu after school play dates. Yet these women have kept me going in the last few months in so many ways. I am looking forward to a time when we can go back to our lives so to speak, but until then I wanted to share this sweet memory and these delicious sweet fritters.
Basic Sweet Fritters
The base recipe for these fritters needs just a few simple ingredients
- Flour
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Baking Powder
- Buttermilk or Milk
- Nutmeg
- Salt
Sweet Fritters Three Ways
While these fritters are lovely as they dusted with icing sugar I love them even more so with some easy peasy modifications.
- Raspberry & Cardamom: this is the combination in Mary Berg's delightful bestselling book and I love the contrast between tart raspberries, the subtle cardamom and the sugary coating.
- Apple & Cinnamon: A scant cup of chopped apples and a little cinnamon is all it takes to make these fritters ready for the fall.
- Saffron & Pistachios: finely crumbled aromatic saffron and a few chopped pistachios give these sweet fritters a special flavour that compliments so many desi desserts!
Looking for more quick sweet inspiration?
- The Apple Snack Cake of my Dreams (an all time favourite!)
- Nutella Pound Cake
- Lemon Velvet - the quickest, easiest TASTIEST lemon mousse!
Made these fritters? Rate them below! Also don't forget to tag me on Instagram in your recreations! You can find me @flourandspiceblog
Sweet Fritters - Three Ways
Equipment
- Medium sized bowl
- Frying Pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup sugar
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg (grated or ground)
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup + 2 tbsp buttermilk (preferred) or milk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp melted butter
Raspberry & Cardamom
- cardamom
- ¾ cup raspberries
Apple & Cinnamon
- cinnamon (ground)
- ¾ cup chopped apples
Pistachio & Saffron
- one pinch saffron threads (about a teaspoon)
- 3 tbsp chopped pistachios
Icing sugar for dusting - a few tablespoons.
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Whisk all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
- Measure your buttermilk/milk into a measuring cup and then whisk in remaining wet ingredients.
- Gently stir in the wet ingredients into the dry until just mixed, small lumps are ok, don't overmix!
- Heat 2 inches or more of oil in a pan until a small drop of batter dropped in the pan sizzles immediately and rises
- Take a spoon or a cookie scoop and drop a few dollops of fritter dough into the pan, frying on medium heat till golden on both sides. Don't over crowd the pan!
- Sift over icing sugar while still warm and serve immediately.
Raspberry and Cardamom
- Add the cardamom when you add the dry ingredients and fold in the raspberries at the end. Proceed to frying.
Apple and Cinnamon
- Stir in the cinnamon with the dry ingredients and fold in the chopped apples at the end, then fry.
Pistachio & Saffron
- Finely crush the saffron between your fingers and stir into the batter along with the pistachios at the end. Fry.
Tahreem says
These are absolutely delicious! My toddler devoured them right away. 🙂
Sarah Mir says
ohmigosh I am not imagining little hands holding them and it's the best happiest visual!
Mina Hashmani says
Hey this looks soo good! Will be trying soon insha'Allah, could you please tell if we can store this for a couple of days in fridge?
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
Hi Mina! You can, just don't dust them with icing sugar. Then when you are ready to eat crisp it back up in the toaster/oven then dust with icing sugar and it's so good!
hungrypaprikas says
Omg my mom used to make us something so similar to this! But without the fruit. Need to try these - thanks for sharing!
sarahjmir@gmail.com says
thank YOU so much!